Housing Blog February 2026: Practical Guidance for Future-Ready Solutions
February 2026 Blog: Practical Guidance for Future-Ready Solutions
Since my last blog where I introduced our Housing Resource Pack, my hope is that those who are new to Digital Telecare might have managed to connect with us and explored some of the support and guidance we’ve provided to assist with the analogue to digital transitioning. For those who have accessed it, I hope you’ve found the asset register/template if you don’t have one of your own. Please feel free to use it to help scope out what telecare you have across your housing estate; where it is, what it is and who by way of residents are supported.
If this month’s blog is your first introduction to the Digital Telecare Programme, then please get in touch with us and we can send you our Housing Resource Pack, or alternatively, click on the link below to access our Playbook for a whole host of additional resources to support you as a housing with telecare provider.
Where to start
At the beginning when reviewing your housing estate, it is best to quantify telecare assets. Property services or maintenance contractors may already have these logged, e.g. on a spreadsheet containing details of your housing and telecare stock. Failing that, you could contact the specific supplier of the telecare equipment, who will no doubt have installed and possibly also maintained it. Engaging with other departments should enable you to gather the necessary information for this (i.e. property, IT, finance). Below is an example of the type of information which is helpful to collect if you want to appraise your existing stock before exploring alternative available options for telecare.
- Scheme Name and Address
- Scheme Tenure – Sheltered, Retirement, Amenity, etc.
- Warden Call System Phone Number (PSTN line if still analogue)
- Communication Provider – BT, Virgin Media, etc. (for the scheme equipment phone number)
- ARC Monitoring – who monitors off-site calls and with which ARC solution?
- How many sub-units or links go to the ARC from the Warden Call System?
- Service Users (residents), Fire Alarm, Door Entry, Lift, Communal or Circulation Areas (Corridors, Lounge, Laundry, Public Toilets)
- Warden Call Equipment Supplier - Tunstall, Chubb, Tynetec (LeGrand)
- Lifespan/Cycle of Warden Call Equipment
In my January blog I talked about about how scheme tenure and on-site support levels can differ, and how telecare offerings range from residents having a choice on telecare support to the historical blanket coverage offered by warden call systems.
Decommissioning Examples
This month I want to focus more on those who are choosing to decommission warden call systems in favour of dispersed alarm solutions. (Like for like blanket coverage but doing so with dispersed alarms). Both Highland and Angus Council made the switch to digital many years ago, by removing all warden call systems and opting for more bespoke dispersed alarms (like for like replacement). Highland Council shared their journey with us and produced a very informative case study detailing why and how they made the much-needed change to digital. This case study is available to view on our website which you can access the below link.
Since then, other housing partners have made a similar choice to upgrade to digital dispersed alarms. Link Group transitioned all their residents using these and the feedback from them was so positive. The residents feedback reflected their preference for the more discrete and bespoke dispersed solution.
East Dumbartonshire Council are also half-way through a major decommissioning project to transition all of their housing schemes to digital dispersed alarms by spring this year. James Gray from East Dumbartonshire Council has agreed to speak about this at our monthly Telecare Service Provider meeting on Wednesday 11th March. He will deliver a show and tell describing how they are progressing their residents to digital. Presentations are generally recorded and added to our Playbook for future reference, however if you would like to attend the meeting in March, or any future meetings, please register with us using the link below.
Edinburgh, Falkirk, and Aberdeenshire and East Lothian Council amongst others are also considering decommissioning plans to take out warden call systems. This often involves reviewing housing tenure or assessing residents need for telecare. This seems to be the model of telecare that is gaining the most traction within housing currently.
Others like East Lothian Housing Association (ELHA) in partnership with East Lothian Council are carefully reviewing alarm call traffic. A thorough assessment of need resulted in only 25% of tenants wanting or needing telecare. Through East Lothian Council, dispersed alarms were purchased and 75% of residents confirmed they did not need telecare support. ELHA covered the cost of the dispersed alarm, SIM card rental for two years, and transferred responsibility for telecare provision to the Council. This collaborative approach offered tangible benefits for residents as well as the housing association: those who don’t need telecare receive a reduction to their service charges, while those who do require support pay the council directly for telecare monitoring, including access to a 24/7 responder service. ELHA no longer has the maintenance, support or replacement costs to for a warden call system that was very rarely used. For more information on their journey, take a look at their case study detailing how this collaborative approach worked well for them.
The evolving funding landscape is prompting tenure review and reassessment of telecare, especially in retirement or independent living settings. Increasingly, housing is choosing to either provide telecare as a paid-for service or take a “Just do Housing” approach and will refer tenants to local council teams for devices and ongoing support.
Just Do Housing
Castlehill Housing Association, following the guidance from the Digital Telecare Playbook is another good transition example. With a “just do housing” approach, starting with asset identification and options appraisal, they opted for a mix of solutions to meet their needs. Four housing with care schemes were digitally upgraded to a new warden call solution from Appello. The other twenty-four retirement housing sites, supported by call reports, identified residents were simply not using the warden call telecare systems. After careful assessment, only 30% wanted telecare support. Castlehill staff helped residents to complete referral forms to their local council if they wished future telecare support.
If residents’ circumstances change, they can easily opt-in at any time by contacting their local council. Castlehill have detailed their experiences and insights in their case study which you can read below.
This month’s blog mostly focused on demonstrating digital transitioning for housing, but if you are not there yet, or your sector needs support in managing legacy telecare equipment or services, then get in touch with The Digital Telecare Team.
