CHIC CHAT

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Click here to download the SOCIAL_HOUSING_CROSSWORD_PUZZLE.pdf

The future of social housing was prudently addressed, following a riveting conversation held by Theresa Mays former chief of staff Nick Timothy at one of our own board awaydays, back in January.

Many believe that social housing is nearing the bottom of the agenda when it comes to the implications of Brexit and is being heavily overlooked.

Arguable, the main issue that the social housing sector is going to face is the logistical changes to supply chains. With materials like timber being heavily imported from the EU, many merchants have already begun contingency planning to maintain their sustainability, and have adopted the approach of stockpiling materials; however, it’s a very temporary solution

The overcomplicating of importing materials is set to have some implications on the affordability of social homes, whether this is going to be for the good or bad of renters in the UK.

But the question is, does anyone know what they are doing? Planning for the unknown is an impossible feat in all walks of life, let alone when looking to mitigate the effects of Brexit on an entire industry.

The potential knock-on effects are endless with the immediate ones possibly the most damaging. Will we begin seeing more or less jobs in the construction industry? Half of construction workers in London come from the EU and many have already gone back to avoid being ‘stuck’.

The effects that deal or no deal Brexit could be endless from temporary purchasing alternative materials to a complete logistical change, steering away from current just in time solutions.

Going from a blanket agreement to, well, who knows what, is going to be a huge change regardless of the specifics and the social housing market is inevitably going to learn to adapt no matter what comes its way; Deal or No Deal is just the beginning of something bigger.

With every future deal coming from UK Parliament, surely our government will do what is best for UK citizens? It is no secret that the UK has been in a housing crisis for some time now with the publication of reports like the Shelter’s “vision for social housing”.

Although the UK is going Brexit crazy, there’s no need to panic. CHIC has been actively collaborating with its members / suppliers to gather intel on what is the best course of action to mitigate the amount of disruption to the supply chain. 95% of Manufacturers and Distributors have already plans in place to mitigate for a No deal vote with the large majority being determined as low risk. (Testimonial from a supplier)

CHIC has engaged with it’s supply chain to ensure that members have contingencies in place for every aspect of property maintenance requirements.

CHIC’s Merchant Services Manager (maybe change it to Supply chain manager) is of the opinion that: “The worst thing that we in the social housing industry can do right now, is to put our heads in the sand and hope that this storm will pass us by. The first thing that will be affected will be supply chains, as we see in other sectors such as the automotive industry. Arguably if housing associations engage with purchasing groups, in respect of their suppliers, trends will be noticeable which means that steps can be taken to mitigate negative effects.”

As rightly pointed out purchasing groups such as CHIC, are better positioned to notice trends in the market that individual housing associations cannot see, and this is purely down to the number of suppliers each engages. Having a pool of suppliers providing the same type of service, normally via a framework, will allow members that purchase through that group a better understanding of where the market is going.

In these trialling times, co-operation is key, and instead of we can do it better, we need to do it better together.

The question is then, what has your association done to ensure that services will not drop.

Quote from Bournville to come: - need to chase giles again today.

If you are worried about the Brexit impact on your organisation, please give us a call.

Updates from CHIC

QUARTERLY BOARD UPDATE

CHIC’s Board met in mid-June for its quarterly review of CHIC’s operational performance and future plans and projections. The Board comprises of nine member representatives and two independent directors, including the chair. More details of the Board are provided below.

Included in the business considered by the Board in June was:

• A review of the updated strategic risk register, following detailed consideration by the Audit and Risk Committee.
• The current CHIC performance dashboard, management accounts and financial year end forecast. CHIC’s financial year ends on 30th June; performance is predicted to just exceed the budget target.
• The procurement plan for replacing and enhancing the range of CHIC’s service offer through a comprehensive range of Frameworks and new Dynamic Markets, now being procured under the 2023 Procurement Act.
• A review of CHIC’s solutions and member utilisation of Technology Services.
• Feedback on CHIC’s Annual Conference, Exhibition and CHIP Charity Dinner. The Board agreed these had been popular and successful events and would be repeated based on the same format in 2026.

Key business decisions by the Board included:
• Approval to extend the Supply of Services Agreement with ARK Consultancy Limited for a further term. CHIC’s Board commissioned an independent review of contract performance prior to making this decision, to ensure that its governance responsibilities were robustly exercised. CHIC has to provide ARK with 12 months’ notice for each term of the contract extension – so this decision confirmed extension to June 2029.

• Approval of the 2025/26 CHIC Budget. Further growth is predicted during the year, so approval included the addition of some new roles across the CHIC team.
The Board also received two presentations:
1. From Fusion Insight – with feedback on the recently completed CHIC Stakeholder Independent Survey.

2. From Endotherm – about a potential Carbon Credit Scheme for CHIC’s members and their residents.

More details about the stakeholder survey outcomes will be included in a future edition of CHIC CHAT.

CHIC's Board
- Amanda Long | Chair- Ian Davies | Director of Property Services, EMH – Vice Chair- David Wells | Executive Director of Customer Experience, Housing Plus Group- Jayne Stringer | Group Procurement Manager, Connexus- Sarah Payling | Strategic Partnerships Director (Housing), Oceanmedia- Charlotte Johnson | Executive Director of Property, LHP- Caroline Lawley | Executive Director of Business and Finance, Taff Housing- Steve Porter | Director of Asset Investment & Procurement, Wales & West Housing- Vic Speakman | Senior Procurement Business Partner, Bromford- Chantal Pottage | Group Procurement Manager, Sanctuary- Sandip Shergill | Director of Procurement, Notting Hill Genesis

Work Experience Placement We are pleased to welcome Mihir Jance, who has joined CHIC on a two week work experience placement to support our competitor analysis and market insight work. Mihir is focusing on researching sector trends, benchmarking CHIC’s services against other procurement consortia and helping us identify opportunities for continued improvement. His work will play an important role in informing our strategic planning and ensuring we continue to deliver value to our members.

Recent Contract AwardsHere is a summary of the contracts awarded through CHIC since the start of our financial year 2024/25, which started last July. There is also the total new members and the regions they reside.

This Month’s Housing Updates
Modular Housing Firm Enters Administration
Telford-based Elements Europe, a modular construction specialist and CHIC stakeholder, has entered administration - halting major projects and resulting in 141 job losses. The move underscores the ongoing challenges facing off-site housing delivery. (Roofing Today)

SHDF Wave 3 Data Release
The Department for Energy Security & Net Zero released updated Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund statistics on installations and allocations, covering progress up to June 2025. (gov)

Construction Sector Insolvencies Continue
A recent PBC overview showed multiple UK construction firms, including SME contractors, have entered administration this month, continuing a worrying trend into mid-2025. (pbc today)

National Housing Bank to Fund 500,000+ Homes
The government announced the launch of the National Housing Bank, backed by £16 billion in public investment and designed to leverage £53 billion in private capital to accelerate the delivery of over 500,000 homes. The initiative aims to expand access to low interest loans and guarantees via Homes England to boost affordable and social housing supply. (gov)

Modular Homes Pilot Approved in London
Planning consent was given for an 18 unit modular housing pilot led by Havering Council and Wates Residential. Designed to provide high quality, energy efficient temporary homes, the development is expected to fast track relief for families in hotels and B&Bs while demonstrating the scalability of off-site construction. (offsitehub)

Upcoming Events

Procurement Updates

Multiple Elements Framework in Final Stages of Procurement CHIC has entered the concluding phases of its tender evaluation for the replacement Multiple Element Framework, which supports planned maintenance works. Once the procurement process is complete a launch will be arranged to introduce the framework supply chain partners.

Published Notices
Find a Tender Pipeline notices have been published across several key workstreams, highlighting major upcoming opportunities for suppliers:
• Decoration: £100.5 million Find a Tender Notice
• Consultancy: £105 million Find a Tender Notice
• Compliance: £1.5 billion Find a Tender Notice
• Merchants: £1.65 billion Find a Tender Notice
• Aids & Adaptations: £80 million Find a Tender Notice
• Lifting Equipment & Mobility Aids: £860 million Find a Tender Notice

Support and Engagement for SMEs
CHIC continues to provide dedicated onboarding support for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) seeking to engage with our Routes to Market. Since 1st July 2024, SME engagement figures are as follows:

Strategic Developments
In parallel, CHIC is actively:
• Updating its Procurement Alliance (PA) 2023 templates to ensure alignment with current market needs and best practices.
• Developing a comprehensive strategy for the implementation of the CHIC Dynamic Marketplace, aimed at increasing procurement agility and supplier access.

For more details on CHIC’s procurement programme, please contact Sam Domican, Director of Procurement, at tenders@chicltd.co.uk.

Supply Chain Updates - Sentinel

Maintain Peak Performance of Your Heat Pump with Sentinel Solutions

Since its founding in 1988, Sentinel has led the way in advanced water treatment solutions. As the UK intensifies its focus on achieving net-zero emissions, transitioning to low-carbon heating such as heat pumps is becoming essential. Nisar Afsar, Technical Director at Sentinel Performance Solutions, highlights why system water treatment is just as crucial in heat pump installations as in traditional heating systems and explains the additional considerations unique to low-temperature systems.

Over the past 37 years, Sentinel has built deep industry expertise through close collaboration with appliance manufacturers. This experience has taught us that effective water treatment and filtration are fundamental to the longevity and performance of all heating appliances - whether it’s a gas boiler, electric heater, or a modern heat pump.

Even in the best circumstances, heating systems are rarely free of contaminants. Over time, debris can accumulate, making a reliable filter a key safeguard - an “insurance policy” that protects the appliance from circulating particles, reduces the risk of breakdowns, and helps extend operational life.

One of our core aims is to empower our customers with knowledge - supported by solid evidence. We encourage installers and engineers to consider the consequences of corrosion, debris, and limescale, and how these issues can be mitigated through the correct use of water treatment products and filtration systems.

Sentinel has worked closely with both equipment manufacturers and regulatory bodies, contributing to updates in key legislation. Notably, the June 2022 revisions to Part L of the Building Regulations - focused on fuel and energy conservation - incorporated BS7593, which outlines the essential steps for commissioning heating systems. These include a thorough clean and flush, installation of a suitable filter, and the use of water treatment inhibitors to protect the system.

When comparing standard filters to those designed for heat pumps, it’s helpful to begin with what they have in common. One of the most persistent issues in any heating system is the formation of iron oxide ‘sludge’. This results from corrosion in steel components such as radiators, pipework, and heat exchangers. As this sludge circulates, it can severely affect system performance and reliability.

Magnetic filters are designed to capture these insoluble ferrous particles and can be used across various systems - be it gas, oil, electric, or heat pump installations. However, heat pump systems introduce additional challenges. Alongside typical contaminants like magnetic sludge, limescale, and installation debris, they may contain non-magnetic particulates that evade standard magnetic filtration.

In systems using glycol as a heat transfer fluid, the glycol can degrade over time and form thick, jelly-like contaminants that magnetic filters cannot capture. To address this, Sentinel developed the Vortex700 - a dual-action heat pump filter featuring a powerful 9000 gauss magnet for magnetic debris and an 800-micron sieve to catch non-magnetic particles. This ensures peak system efficiency and protects the heat pump and its components for the long term.

One distinct issue with heat pumps is microbiological contamination - far less common in high-temperature traditional systems. Because heat pumps operate at lower temperatures, they can foster bacterial or algal growth if not properly treated, especially in setups like underfloor heating that lack copper or steel components.

We’re actively working to raise awareness that biocide treatment is essential in heat pump systems. Heat pumps typically heat water to just 40-45°C - an ideal range for microbial growth if glycol is present and untreated.

In addition to biocides, inhibitors are necessary to combat corrosion and scale - just like in traditional systems. Historically, convincing installers to add even a single treatment was challenging. Now, we’re urging the use of two (biocide and inhibitor) which requires a shift in mindset. But the logic is clear: prevention is always less costly and disruptive than cure. Addressing system contamination after issues arise is far more complex and expensive than proactive treatment from day one.

For more information about Sentinel’s full range of heat pump-specific solutions, visit:

https://www.sentinelprotects.com/uk-en/catalog/heat-pump-solutions/air-source/groups/g+c+view

Measuring Social Value

Social Value… And Then What?

In the housing sector, it's important that we understand the broader impact of all our asset management and development investment. True social value encompasses the effects on people’s wellbeing, such as improved mental health and stronger community connections.

To fully understand social value, we must be prepared to consider everything that contributes to it. Without effective measurement, how can we really know the difference we are making in people’s lives?

There are many tools designed to help quantify social value. Social Return on Investment (SROI) is one of the more common systems that helps translate a range of outcomes into monetary value. For instance, a £1 investment might yield £30 in social value. While useful, this only tells part of the story. What about the personal, longer-term impact? In housing, benefits can endure for years. It's important we also consider how lasting our contributions are when assessing value.

We need to provide clear, meaningful insight into the real social impact of our members work. Beyond asking every individual how we have affected them, how can we justify our influence if we only rely on financial data?

That’s why CHIC has adopted HACT’s Social Value Insight platform (hact.org.uk). It enables us not just to monetise activity, but to evaluate the total impact of a project - social, environmental and economic. The UK Social Value Bank, at the heart of this tool, places wellbeing at the centre of value measurement. It allows us to reflect both individual and community benefits, alongside cost savings to the public sector. This means we can report comprehensively on how our social value activity contributes to improving lives.

All CHIC procured contracts must deliver a minimum of 1% of turnover to social value. CHIP’s Social Value Manager engages with contractors and suppliers every quarter to track and understand this delivery. We then share the results with partners and members, ensuring they know the impact on their communities and can plan for future support where it’s needed most.

It’s essential we continue to review and reflect on the social value we deliver across the communities we serve, measuring the worth of positively changing someone’s life - that’s truly invaluable.

We will be developing our annual report in the coming weeks. If you are a CHIC member or supply chain partner and would like to feature your social value outcomes in this report, please get in touch.

Emma Macaulay | emacaulay@chipcharity.org.uk

Thought Leadership this Month

CHIC shares three new blogs that offer insights into real, current challenges across the social housing sector. From lessons learned in modular construction, to digital tools making procurement easier and the call for smarter long term thinking in asset management, these stories reflect our work supporting members to deliver better homes and services.

The Journey of the CHIC Show House

By Sarah Davey, Head of Development

Back in 2018, CHIC commissioned a modular show house with Premier Modular to demonstrate the benefits of MMC, including improved insulation, faster construction and transportability. It made the rounds at housing conferences and was then placed at Community Housing as a demonstration home for members.

However, updated building regulations and a decline in MMC uptake meant plans to repurpose it in a live housing scheme didn’t come to fruition. The 2 bedroom / 4 person house has now been relocated as staff accommodation on (rather appropriately) a CHICKEN farm in Yorkshire.

Our thanks to Community Housing for kindly hosting the CHIC MMC house in recent years.

The journey reveals the complexities of MMC - innovative, but not without real world obstacles. Sarah Davey also recently contributed to the HQN report “Modern Methods of Construction: Time to Fulfil Its Promise”, reflecting on these same lessons and the broader implications for the sector as it looks to realise MMC’s full potential.

Read the full blog »Read the HQN report »

Reimagining Planned Maintenance: COMS in Action

By Martin Radbourne, Business Intelligence Manager

COMS, CHIC’s Order Management System, continues to transform how planned maintenance programmes are delivered. Designed to streamline ordering, track spending and reduce administration, it’s been described as “the Amazon of social housing.”

The system allows contractors to order from tailored catalogues, raise queries and manage returns, all whilst giving members full visibility of spend by property or product. Reporting is integrated via Power BI dashboards, making budget tracking, auditing and project oversight much easier.

It’s also built with suppliers in mind and designed to fit around their existing processes, rather than replace them. For CHIC members, features like consolidated invoicing and strict catalogue controls are proving popular.

With major users like Birmingham City Council already onboard, COMS is proving its value, especially where traditional procurement tools fall short.

Explore how COMS works »

Housing Matters Now: Rethinking Retrofit
By Jackie Leonard, Head of Member Services (Wales)

CHIC’s latest thought leadership campaign kicks off with a call to bring retrofit into the mainstream of long term asset planning. The message? Retrofit shouldn’t be a special project as it should be integrated into all other major works programmes.

The blog explores how early engagement with residents and the supply chain leads to better outcomes and why clear, long term planning sends stronger signals to the market. It also looks at the importance of local delivery, resilient investment strategies and regulatory shifts across England and Wales.

As the sector continues to respond to climate change, cost of living pressures and changing tenant expectations, the approach we take to retrofit will shape the homes of the future.

Read the campaign launch blog »