Procurement for Housing (PfH) has launched the second generation of its Social Housing Emerging Disruptors (SHED) framework, which helps social housing landlords procure innovative solutions from small and micro businesses.
PfH says that the framework is worth up to £100m over three years
The first SHED framework launched in January 2022. [See our previous report here.]
Many of the chosen suppliers provide services that empower and engage tenants, in line with new tenant satisfaction standards that come into effect from April 2023.
They include Hello Lamp Post, a text messaging service that gathers views by asking residents to ‘chat’ with street furniture, and Alertacall, which provides personal security for residents of sheltered and supported housing.
Several suppliers also provide financial support. Wonde’s Evouchers is an online system that helps housing organisations to distribute food and retail vouchers to residents. GoGreen enables tenants to find and claim income and energy efficiency support for which they might be eligible.
Others on the framework offer new ways to retrofit and repair homes.
Ambue’s 3D building model helps social landlords to understand sustainability, energy efficiency and heat loss improvement opportunities. Bays Consulting’s dashboard provides housing organisations with stock condition predictions related to home hazards and health risks. PH Jones will enable social landlords to create virtual power plants from domestic batteries and renewable energy solutions installed in homes, so they can provide stored energy during periods of peak demand.
Jenny Danson, director of the Proptech Innovation Network, which has helped develop the framework with PfH, said: “It can take a huge amount of effort to bring innovation into social housing. Suppliers and housing providers have to jump through hoops to satisfy procurement regulations - it often involves lots of effort and cost. That’s why we developed the SHED with PfH – it gives social landlords a route to compliantly procure solutions quicker and cheaper, and suppliers have the certainty of being on the framework for three years and they receive support to break into the sector.”
PfH head of procurement Neil Butters added: “Social landlords are dealing with rising prices, a 7% rent cap and cost of living crisis, alongside urgent targets on building safety, net zero and development. They desperately need brand new ideas to tackle these challenges. The Social Housing Emerging Disruptors framework is a safe space to try out these ideas without complex procurement rules, legal challenges or lengthy tender documents getting in the way.”
The 20 suppliers on the framework are:
- Alertacall
- Ambue
- Bays Consulting
- Energy Lighting
- Fuzzlab
- GoGreen
- Hello Lamp Post
- Iris IoT
- McGregor White
- Mobilise
- PH Jones
- Plexus
- Prodo
- Qualis Flow
- Safecility
- Sero Life
- Structural Surveys
- Tim Ashwin
- VRPM
- Wonde
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