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In 2000 the government gave a commitment to bring all public sector housing, (those homes owned by local authorities and registered social landlords) up to a decent standard by 2010.

This target placed a responsibility on all social landlords to identify, quantify and set a timetable for eliminating this backlog of repairs across the whole stock.

The 10 year target has clearly bought good news for both the contractor and domestic product supplier, as at this point six years into the programme there is still much to do; for example, it is estimated that in England alone, around one million social housing dwellings still require window replacements; around eight million windows.

Under-funding

Under-funding of local authorities over the years has resulted in the disrepair we now see. Faced with limited budgets, housing officers developed a ‘patch and mend' culture even on items well past their normal life expectancy simply because of shortage of funds.

Now though the agenda has shifted, with the introduction of plans for local authorities to maintain their stock, long term, via a ‘per property' allowance which can be rolled over from one financial year to another as a sinking fund.

The introduction of the Major Repairs Allowance will therefore switch the emphasis away from the constant struggle of ‘catch up' repairs towards a planned major repairs programme.

Decent Homes

However, this plan will only work if the stock is in good order at the time of introduction and so the huge ‘catch up' repairs programme being undertaken towards the Decent Homes standard is because of this.

Under the new system, the quality and life expectancy of product will become far more significant as there will be the need for a local authority, at the time of replacement of major components, to estimate how much year on year should be set aside into the reserve and for how long, in order to provide funding for when this item will need replacing again.

In essence this is driving a huge interest in asset management software and a steep learning curve for the officers involved; poor quality product installed now will have implications for years to come.

Is it too late to get on board?

Currently, at a point six years into the Decent Homes programme, system suppliers and window fabricators who until now have skated on the peripheries of this market, are asking themselves whether it is too late to get involved.

Obviously, the fact that there are still millions of windows to be replaced is good news, but many suppliers are concerned that procurement partnerships are already in place ahead of this work.

Certainly there has been an unprecedented move towards large-scale procurement, simply because of the timescales and volumes involved. The emergence of procurement consortia, driven by the Gershon Review, already involve in excess of 600,000 dwellings with many requiring replacement windows. However, much of this work is only now coming onto the market.

The fact that over twenty other consortia are expected to emerge over the next two years is also encouraging.

However, by far the best way of reaching conclusions is to ask the landlords themselves and this has been the driver behind what is probably the largest research project undertaken regarding replacement windows.

What did the research entail?

Every stock owning local authority and ALMO in England was approached plus the top 100 registered social landlords with the most stock below the Decent Homes Standard.

The questions asked, sought to establish how much of their programme was underway, how much work was there still to do, the choice of material type, who sets the specification, who chooses the suppliers involved and the approximate size of contract.

Of the 300 social landlords involved in this research, 25% have completed their window replacement work, 56% have not and 3% have not completed the necessary window replacement work because they are seeking to transfer their stock. 16% would not say.

Remaining UK programmes?

Original targets set by the ODPM have been revised as progress was not as envisaged. However, the latest figures will still leave 30% of the work to be completed between 2008-2010 if the Decent Homes Standard is to be met in England. Chances are that this target is likely to slip possibly to 2012 or so.

This still leaves Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to go with target dates of 2015, 2012 and 2010 respectively to meet the Decent Homes/Quality Standards that each have set.

The conclusion that one can therefore draw is, that in this sector at least, the window replacement market is alive and well and should be sustainable for the medium term.

For more details about this research or the other market intelligence on the social housing, housebuilding, education and window, door and conservatory sectors please contact Julie Adkin, Managing Director of Focal Research, on 01297 22626 or visit the company's website at www.focalresearch.co.uk