Interiors

As we stand on the brink of potentially a major re-focus for the social housing sector and a new emphasis upon delivering affordable homes to meet an ever-growing demand, we must not lose sight of the need for maintaining quality, regulatory and environmental standards.

In the realm of fire safety, Vicaima has established itself as a leading manufacturer of timber doors and door kits, setting a benchmark in the industry with comprehensive certification and third-party accreditation. With a commitment to design quality and performance, Vicaima has consistently demonstrated its ability to produce doors that not only meet the needs of current living, but forever look to the future.  With an unwavering attention to sustainability goals, Vicaima products integrate seamlessly with the needs of the social build environment.

With inclusive living becoming an increasingly important aspect of bathroom design, creating shower systems that provide a superb showering experience while giving people the independence they want is crucial. Mira Showers has designed the Mira Select Flex mixer shower to enable more confident independent showering while looking at home in any family bathroom.

It's a common exercise in any sector of activity - to foresee macro-trends, understand phenomena and draw up plans to respond to those same expectations of a future that is always more innovative, challenging and non-linear. The complementary worlds of architecture, construction and design are no exception and are the forerunners of boldness and disruption of norms, an attitude that brings them closer to the frontier between the beauty of evolution and the power of change.

On 20 March 2019 a new law came into force to ensure rented properties are ‘fit for human habitation’, meaning they are safe, healthy, and free from things that could cause serious harm. This new law, the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, helps tenants and landlords by making sure that their rental property isn’t causing them to live in dangerous or unhealthy conditions.

And according to The English Housing Survey for Housing Quality and Condition [1],  3.5 million occupied homes were not suitable and did not meet the Decent Homes Standard in 2020, with 4% having serious damp issues. Whilst 4% might not sound like a large number, it accounts for 941,000 houses. On top of this, the cost to the NHS to treat the impact of damp is approximately £38 million2. And landlords can also face high costs to carry out repairs, put right health and safety problems, or pay compensation to the tenant.

When designing properties, housing providers should think carefully about the colours used in each room and the emotions they evoke in building occupants. In this article, Dawn Scott, Senior Colour Designer at Dulux Trade explains what people want to feel in their homes and how colour and design can be used to improve occupant wellbeing and help to make a space more welcoming and homely.

Beauflor® attended Europe’s largest housing festival to show its sheet vinyl flooring that meets the quality and affordability challenges of the sector.

Beauflor used June’s Housing 2023 show in Manchester to demonstrate the suitability of its floors for social and affordable homes. Beauflor sheet vinyl floors offer benefits for housebuilders, developers, local authorities and housing associations. Meeting the quality and affordability challenges of the sector, while providing tenants with a floor that’s homely, comfortable and easy to look after; providers can ensure a floor that’s not just lasting but one that also helps to create a good quality home for tenants.

For many social tenants, the idea of a wet room is far from a luxury, but a necessity, however some landlords express concern at the idea of installing wet rooms on upper floors. Here, Stuart Reynolds, UK Marketing & Product Management Director at AKW, a leading provider of inclusive solutions, discusses how wet rooms are not just for downstairs installs and how they can be specified – with confidence - upstairs too.