3D printing, drones and robots feature on the fourth Social Housing Emerging Disruptors (SHED) framework.
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- Harcourt Technologies, a 3D concrete printing firm;
- Vantage UAV, which delivers drone-based property inspections;
- Geobear Residential, offering eco-friendly subsidence solutions;
- Autonomous IoT, providing renewable energy security and lighting towers;
- Confurr, a real-time video platform that helps tenants report repairs;
- robotic underfloor insulation firm Q-Bot; and
- Switchee, which delivers real-time data through a thermostat, helping social landlords to proactively manage homes.
PfH set up the first SHED framework four years ago, in response to feedback from housing associations and councils about how difficult it was to procure emerging services from innovative startups. According to PfH, startups struggle to break into the market because of tender bureaucracy, and a lack of resources to commit to the lengthy public procurement application process.
PfH runs a portal that allows social landlords to do a quick desk-based selection process, identifying the supplier that best meets their needs. The PfH team then provides pricing information and supports the contracting process.
Social housing challenges
Neil Butters, head of procurement at PfH, said: “We had a range of firms bidding for the SHED this year and the 17 winners offer a wide variety of services. That’s a sign of where the social housing sector is right now and the myriad problems and competing priorities it faces. The market is responding to those challenges and our job with SHED is to nurture both the SME supply chain and innovative procurement in the sector – both key goals of the new Procurement Act.”
Annemarie Roberts, property lead at the Disruptive Innovators Network, added: “Housing directors are inundated with the problems and risks of today, and often they don’t have time to explore how technology and AI can support them. The sector is operating in a massively challenging environment, and one of the ways to meet increasing expectations and standards is to deploy innovative solutions. The SHED framework can help housing providers break this cycle, spot the best technology for their business, and adopt it at scale.”
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