More than twenty years on from the Blair government’s introduction of the Decent Homes Standard, over half a million social homes are still failing to meet even minimum decency standards. Fire risk, poor ventilation, damp, and substandard electrical installations remain all too common, yet avoidable features in the UK’s social housing stock. In addition, the social housing sector faces a huge retrofit challenge, to meet the energy efficiency demands of delivering net zero by 2050 and in addressing fuel poverty.
HomeLINK, the innovative Internet of Things company, was established three years ago to provide hardware and online solutions to social landlords wanting to improve their housing stock and to deliver positive changes for their tenants. Their acquisition by Aico in 2020 has helped to position HomeLINK as a market leader in the application of integrated online and hardware solutions to the social housing sector.
Chris Jones, HomeLINK CEO, explains that “the main reason landlords choose our system is to help them address fire safety compliance, asset management, disrepair issues including damp and mould problems, tackle fuel poverty and help them in their climate change strategy.”
In the last three years, HomeLINK has grown from innovative start up, to an established social landlords’ partner, working with over 380 social landlords and with 8,000 connected homes and 46,000 connected devices installed.
The company’s work with Wolverhampton Homes is typical of the wide range of services provided. Wolverhampton Homes, who manage over 22,000 homes on behalf of Wolverhampton Council, wanted an effective, holistic overview of property conditions among their housing stock, to improve property maintenance, help inform future investment decisions, and directly benefit their residents.
The Aico-HomeLINK integrated solution for Wolverhampton Homes included the installation of a range of temperature, humidity, and CO2 sensors, multi-sensor smoke and CO alarms, and electricity smart meters. The data gathered by remote monitoring was also shared with residents through regular reports and workshops, helping to drive helpful behaviour change.
Over a 5-month period, the project delivered significant improvements, including a 19% improvement in ventilation, reduced mould risk across all homes, better targeting of individual homes for energy efficiency investment, and an 8% average reduction in electricity usage.
The Wolverhampton case study also demonstrated the importance of involving residents in the delivery of housing improvements and the day-to-day maintenance of their homes. Aico-HomeLINK has also developed an innovative Resident app to provide real time updates on their home’s performance direct to residents.
Chris Jones emphasises that “Resident app is an important part of our product offering. It helps residents look after their home’s health which ultimately helps them look after their own health, save them money, and reduce their carbon footprint. The resident app is like a FitBit for your home. We have had some very good feedback from residents, and it has helped create some of the benefits seen in the Wolverhamption case study.”
Looking ahead, Aico-HomeLINK has ambitious plans to develop further products in line with the company’s mission to “deliver social good” and to improve people’s lives through innovation. The company is constantly seeking new ways to improve its range of services, with a new environment sensor measuring temperature, humidity, and CO2 levels, about to be launched.
In addition, Aico-HomeLINK is undertaking R&D work on connected smart hospitals for the NHS, school classroom air quality monitoring for Cardiff City Council, and an assisted living and telecare project with Stirling council. There are plans to extend the range of monitoring devices linked to the Aico-HomeLINK platform, including telecare offerings, but also links to other manufacturers’ products, including boilers and heat pumps. Vaillant boilers are already included.
The company has major ambitions for the future including a further expansion of both hardware and analytics product offerings, a move into the consumer owner occupier sector, and connecting over 500,000 social homes within five years.
As Chris Jones concludes, “the environmental condition of a home has a dramatic impact on the occupant’s health. This has been known for years in the scientific literature, but not in the public’s awareness. We believe that Aico-HomeLINK will play a big part in raising public awareness of the importance of living conditions on health. Ultimately, with our sensors, analytics, and applications we believe we will have a hugely positive impact on peoples’ health, safety, and wellbeing.”
For more information on HomeLINK visit: homelink.co
