Can lean thinking apply to the repair and refurbishment of properties in the registered social landlord sector?

Abstract

PurposeConstruction, demolition, refurbishment and material supply processes are responsible for a significant amount of waste; whilst estimates vary, the UK Government uses the figure of 70 million tonnes. The construction industry accounts for some 17 per cent of the total waste produced in the UK. How much of this is produced by refurbishment activities in the registered social landlord (RSL) sector is unknown, but there is little doubt that refurbishing housing offers opportunities for significant waste generation. RSL housing is maintained and refurbished by a number of triggers when a dwelling is left vacant after a tenant departs. Such a property is known as a “Void”. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the type of maintenance works undertaken to properties in the RSL sector and consider the potential for the application of lean thinking to those maintenance processes.Design/methodology/approachA literature review and interviews with RSL maintenance personnel are used to inform the discussion contained in this paper.FindingsThe main conclusion from this paper is that properties located in estates and built post‐1980 are those most likely to benefit from lean principles.Originality/valueThe RSL sector is changing from pseudo local government concerns to “social businesses”; therefore, the opportunity to apply lessons learned in other business sectors to the maintenance of RSLs' main assets (i.e. their properties) should be of interest to the sector as a whole.