FMJ Facilities Management magazine providing industry-specific intelligence to FM and property professionals
Wates has launched a new dedicated service designed to combat two of the greatest challenges facing social housing, disrepair, and damp and mould.
The new Healthy Homes service, which boasts six customers in place already, will see Wates offer existing and new customers a bespoke programme of work, utilising both a direct labour force and specialist supply chain to help social landlords provide healthy homes for their residents.
Formed of two individual workstreams, with compliant routes to markets through a range of frameworks, Healthy Homes will focus on Wates’ efforts to reduce the number of nationwide disrepair cases, helping social landlords to address repairs before they become legal disputes, reducing legal fees and resulting in happy and safe residents.
Alongside disrepair, Wates’ Healthy Homes service also includes work to address the increasing challenge of damp and mould, which is estimated by the Regulator of Social Housing (RHS) to affect 160,000 social housing properties in England. Wates’ Damp and Mould service will include measures to proactively mitigate against the depleting quality of housing stock, sourcing cost effective and innovative solutions to improve ventilation.
Products and services will be identified by Wates Sustainable Technology Services through the Wates Innovation Network (WIN) Portal, which works to identify innovative technologies to improve property efficiency and lifespan. Products to be used through the new service include thermoboards to improve insulation, air bricks that monitor humidity and support ventilation, and air monitoring systems to help improve air quality.
David Morgan, Executive Managing Director of Wates Property Services, commented: “Issues of disrepair, and damp and mould are a growing challenge for social landlords, which are compounded by equally pressing priorities of energy efficiency retrofit, routine maintenance and fire safety. Treating these with equal importance is vital, but can create budgetary pressures. The aim of our Healthy Homes service is to work with customers to address these challenges alongside our complementary services, ensuring that we are improving the lives of residents at every available opportunity while maximising value for money for landlords.”
Healthy Homes will sit alongside Wates’ core services for social housing landlords, which includes planned and responsive repairs and maintenance, fire safety and compliance, and its energy efficiency retrofit portfolio.
As environmental protection demands unified action, transparency, and heightened awareness, Biological Preparations has launched an initiative to catalyse sustainability efforts within the FM sector.
FM businesses face unique challenges and heightened expectations of eco-initiatives from their clients. Yet, behind the scenes in FM businesses, many environmental initiatives, rollouts and even planning, are not broadcasted and transparent.
Have your say: Sustainability Trends in FM
The UK biotech company’s five-minute, anonymous FM-focused survey, offers FM professionals of all hierarchies with a platform to voice their perspectives and share their experiences. The results from this survey will then be analysed and presented as an industry-specific report, which aims to guide FM businesses helping them benchmark trends, gain clarity on industry challenges, and map out goals and metrics towards sustainability.
To share your experiences, please click here.
