Driving Innovation in social housing:
How we support confident technology adoption
Social housing is a risk-averse sector. With tight budgets and high regulatory scrutiny, the impact of getting things right is significant, Social housing in Scotland faces unique challenges: tight budgets, increasing demand, and significant regulatory oversight. Delivering warm, safe homes is the foundation for tenant stability and wellbeing, which naturally makes organisations cautious about change. We discussed these challenges in Inside Housing. But ideas alone aren’t enough. Turning pilots into lasting change – that’s where PfH Scotland helps.
Yet, this caution can slow innovation. Many Scottish housing associations and councils trial new technologies, data tools, and AI, but moving pilots into routine operations can be difficult. Day-to-day operational pressures often leave little room to explore new approaches.
Why Innovation stalls
Across Scotland, housing organisations run pilots with AI, sensors, and smart tech, but these often don’t move beyond trial. Key reasons include:
- Leadership teams tied up in daily operational challenges rather than planning ahead.
- Procurement processes that can be slow, particularly for new or emerging suppliers.
- Boards not consistently recognising innovation as a strategic priority.
PfH Scotland addresses these challenges through our procurement frameworks, technology platforms, and consultancy services. Innovation can actually create headspace, helping housing organisations manage growing demand within constrained resources.
While many pilots struggle to move beyond trial, there are notable examples in Scotland where innovation already shows how much of an impact it can have.
Scottish Innovation pilots in social housing
1. Smart sensor technology in retirement housing
A six-month pilot at Langvout Court in Biggar demonstrated that smart sensor technology could save an estimated £18.5 million across Scotland’s sheltered housing schemes. The unobtrusive sensors monitored environmental conditions, providing real-time data to improve safety and reduce costs.
2. Retrofit Initiatives for net zero goals
Home Group Scotland completed a retrofit programme in Dundee, upgrading 14 flats from EPC ratings C and D to B. This initiative is part of their long-term net zero strategy, aiming to improve energy efficiency and reduce tenants’ bills.
3. IoT pilot in South Lanarkshire
A pioneering project in South Lanarkshire integrated housing and care technology by placing sensors around a development in Biggar. These sensors monitored property and wellbeing conditions such as temperature, humidity, and motion, enhancing the lives of retirement housing residents.
4. AI-Driven maintenance efficiency
TenantsHub CIC in Glasgow City Region tested the Hubble platform, which used AI and data aggregation to empower social housing tenants. The platform reduced mould issues by 10% and enhanced maintenance efficiency, enabled by Glasgow’s fast 5G network.
5. Environmental sensors in Stirling
Stirling Council installed environmental sensors in tenants’ homes to collect data on temperature, humidity, and CO2 levels. This initiative aimed to improve health, safety, and wellbeing by providing early warnings of potential issues like damp or poor ventilation.
Here’s how we guide Scottish housing leaders to adopt and scale new technologies with confidence:
Board composition and leadership
Changing the innovation culture starts at the top. Boards that encourage experimentation and model learning from both success and failure create an environment where staff feel empowered to explore new ways of working.
Skills and development
Being comfortable with change must be embedded in recruitment, onboarding, and ongoing learning. We advise Scottish housing providers to ensure their workforce has both digital literacy and a clear understanding of emerging technologies, including AI, so they can use these tools effectively.
Through our consultancy services, we support boards and leadership teams to assess organisational risk appetite, shape innovation strategies, and embed a learning culture. Working alongside our experts ensures that teams in Scotland have the right skills and structures to adopt new technologies effectively.
Culture of curiosity
Encouraging curiosity and exploration makes innovation part of everyday practice. Recognising and rewarding smart risk-taking, with a focus on learning, helps embed this culture across Scottish housing organisations.
Procurement as an enabler
We offer over 20 procurement frameworks giving social landlords fast, compliant access to suppliers and services across Scotland. These cover retrofit, energy systems, independent living tech, and IoT solutions. Our frameworks simplify engagement with both established and emerging technology providers, removing barriers to adoption.
Our consultancy team also works directly with Scottish housing providers to navigate procurement requirements, ensuring organisations can access the right suppliers quickly and compliantly. This support makes implementing new solutions far easier and less administratively burdensome.
Connecting with Innovators through SHED
We created SHED (Social Housing Emerging Disruptor) frameworks in partnership with the Disruptive Innovators Network (DIN). SHED gives Scottish housing providers direct access to SMEs and innovators with simplified compliance, helping you bring new solutions to market faster.
Our approach through Quantum
Our technology platform, Quantum, supports Scottish housing organisations in managing and streamlining technology adoption. Leaders can identify suitable solutions, track implementation, and evaluate outcomes effectively. Combined with SHED and our consultancy support, we help organisations select the technologies and innovative approaches that best meet their operational needs and long-term goals. This ensures every solution adopted aligns with strategy, compliance requirements, and practical delivery.
What this means for Scottish housing leaders
For organisations facing rising demand and limited resources, PfH Scotland provides practical support:
- Less procurement headache: Pre-tendered suppliers and compliant routes ready to use.
- Vetted innovators at your fingertips: SHED brings new solutions within reach, from drones to digital twins.
- Data-driven confidence: Quantum measures outcomes and helps scale successful pilots.
- Support for SMEs: Heavy tendering paperwork is reduced, making niche expertise more accessible.
The social housing sector in Scotland may lag behind other sectors in innovation, but the culture can shift. By combining strong leadership, skills development, a curiosity-driven culture, and structured support through our frameworks and networks, we enable confident adoption of new technologies that improve services for tenants and staff alike.
In summary
The Inside Housing article highlighted the problem. Here, we show how PfH Scotland helps landlords adopt innovation at pace. From frameworks that simplify compliance, to SHED’s access to disruptors, to Quantum providing insight and assurance for scaling, procurement and technology together become the engine for innovation in Scottish social housing.
A version of this article by Annemarie Roberts and Neil Butters first appeared in Inside Housing, and can be read here.
About Neil Butters
Neil Butters is a procurement and operations specialist with extensive experience spanning the public sector, NHS, and housing framework sectors.
Currently Director of Operations at Procurement for Housing, Neil leads the operational delivery that enables housing providers and public sector organisations across the UK to access effective, compliant procurement solutions. He stepped into this role having spent over eight years as Head of Procurement at PfH, a tenure in which he made a significant and lasting contribution to the organisation’s growth and the development of its procurement offer.
Earlier in his career, Neil held senior procurement roles within the NHS, serving as Strategic Procurement Manager at NHS Shared Business Services and as Senior Contracts and Project Manager at Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. In those roles he led end-to-end procurement projects across a wide range of disciplines, deputised for the Head of Procurement, and managed complex, high-value contracts including the outsourcing of an outpatient pharmacy dispensary and the implementation of a managed equipment service across multiple clinical specialties.
With deep expertise in public sector contracting, project management, and change management, Neil brings a commercially sharp and energetic approach to driving procurement excellence across the housing sector..
About Annemarie Roberts
Annemarie Roberts is a senior housing leader with more than 15 years of executive experience across the social housing sector, bringing a rare combination of operational breadth, strategic clarity, and an unshakeable focus on the customer.
Currently serving as Interim Executive Director of Customer Experience at mhs homes, Annemarie has operated at executive and director level across G15, community-based, and G320 housing associations, leading functions spanning customer experience, assets, operations, transformation, IT, HR, and communications. She also runs Iki’Den, her own consultancy providing interim executive cover and strategic advice to housing organisations, and serves as an Associate Director at the Disruptive Innovators Network, where she works with social housing members on property technology innovation.
Annemarie’s executive career includes senior roles at Moat Homes, Golding Homes, and One Housing, where she spent over a decade progressing from Legal Team Manager to Director of Customer Operations. At Golding Homes, she led a nationally recognised customer service improvement campaign – What about Shirley? – which delivered an 11% improvement in customer satisfaction within three months and attracted industry-wide recognition and awards. In the same role she brought repairs and maintenance in-house, improving productivity by 40% within ten weeks, and drove a 17-point improvement in staff engagement during the pandemic.
Earlier in her career, Annemarie trained and practised as a solicitor, beginning her legal career at the London Borough of Greenwich before moving into housing operations, a foundation that informs her rigorous, principled approach to governance, compliance, and customer advocacy.
Driven by her values of honesty, ambition, generosity, and a genuine belief that housing should be a positive force in people’s lives, Annemarie brings energy, experience, and a boldly customer-first perspective to every organisation she works with.