Social Housing

Landlords and building owners have a duty of care to the occupants in multi-occupancy units, to ensure unauthorised persons cannot gain access to communal areas, whilst making sure that door hardware for apartments meets the safety and security requirements laid out in UK Regulations.
Building owners should collaborate with leading manufacturers to install a complete access control system, which provides control over who has access to the premises and grounds – including different levels of access for different parts of those premises and grounds. These security systems can range from a typical mechanical cylinder lock to a multi-door, multi-site computer-based building security system.
The security and comfort of residents in residential units is of paramount importance. To ensure their safety and ease of access whilst maintaining an interior design aesthetic, security experts on the project should look to employ innovative manufacturers of access control solutions.

A complete product portfolio to meet your social housing facility

Entrance Systems

The main entrance of social housing buildings are important as they convey a positive and safe first impression, as well as they allow a smooth flow of residence & visitors traffic. dormakaba sliding doors provide responsive opening within the minimum threshold size making them ideal for applications where frontage depth and space are primary considerations in busy areas. As with revolving doors, our range is safe, flexible and reliable for all applications where convenience of pedestrian access is important. With dormakaba, your building meets the entrance system that is welcoming, benefiting from reduced noise, dust and thermal loss whilst in operation in the most secure way.

Electronic access control & data

A typical solution for communal doors is an additional key – however, these are at risk of loss or illegal key copying. In addition, if a previous tenant moves out, they could potentially keep a key. This can cause a wealth of problems for the building owner, who will be required to change the locks on the communal door and provide every tenant with new keys.
To combat this, an electronic solution would be advised. Leading manufacturers can offer door handle designs which offer enhanced security – such as a proximity reader designed into the hardware which can be unlocked using a range of media to suit any requirement, including key cards, fobs, keys with radio-frequency identification (RFID). If access using electronic systems becomes vulnerable – for example if a card or fob is lost or stolen, the owners access rights can quickly be withdrawn and rectified easily. In addition, using smartphones with compatible security apps is becoming increasingly popular thanks to ease of operation, convenience and a secure way for license key holders to access a particular location.
These electronic solutions can also be used for individual apartments, with rights for each individual tenant that can be remotely limited, revoked or authorised.

Door Hardware

Compliant third party certificated high quality doors and door hardware will help to keep residents safe. The importance of correctly specifying door closers within multiple housing properties and the potential impact of changing an approved specification should always be considered.

In the UK, any door closer that is used on a self-closing fire door should be CE marked, however this is not sufficient on its own to ensure that a door closer is suitable for an intended fire door. The third-party certification such as the Certifire scheme can ensure that the desired door closer can be used for specific fire door applications.

How do specifiers make sure that a door closer not only satisfies UK legislation but also works for the residents who will use it on daily basis? The majority of social housing will house both young and old with varying levels of physical capabilities, which is why the type of door closer chosen is paramount. By specifying an adjustable powered high efficiency door closer, the closing force for each door can be individually adjusted to ensure full closure whilst keeping opening forces to a minimum.

Mechanical Key Systems

For landlords who prefer a mechanical solution, the Door & Hardware Federation in the UK advises that all lock cylinders should be upgraded to the TS007 Kitemark standard. Designed to combat common types of attack, the Pextra range cylinders is protected from drilling, picking, bumping, snapping and plug extraction. In particular, the pextra guard cylinder features a sacrificial break slot, that ensures if the cylinder is snapped, the secure core of the lock is retained within the door, preventing would be intruders from inserting screwdrivers into the cam to unlock the door. For an additional layer of security, these keys can only be cut by dormakaba approved partners – eliminating the risk of illegal key copying.