We’re pleased to announce affordable housing provider, Preferred Homes, has selected Appello to provide digital warden call services at its new Extra Care Housing facilities across England.

Our end to end digital telecare system, Smart Living Solutions, has been installed at Preferred Homes’ Leeds and Telford schemes. It will also be installed at the Nottingham scheme, which is currently under construction, as well as pipeline schemes in Shrewsbury and Crawley.

Preferred Homes delivers, owns and manages a portfolio of sustainable and affordable extra care housing, creating thoughtfully designed 'Homes for Life' for people over 55 with minor to intermediate care needs.

As a new registered provider, Preferred Homes sought advice from partners on who to approach for a digital warden call system. Appello was identified as a market leader and, following positive feedback, soon became the top choice.

Preferred Homes develops according to a number of key design principles, produced in line with the latest industry guidance from Housing LIN. These include the use of technology to provide external monitoring and enable smart home environments, as well as offering facilities and social opportunities to promote health, wellbeing, and community connectivity.

Craig Barlow, Managing Director at Appello said: "We’re thrilled to be partnering with Preferred Homes on these much-needed new Extra Care Housing. Smart Living Solutions has been designed to help older people feel safer, more connected to loved ones and in control of their daily lives. It also has a proven track record within group living schemes. This makes it a perfect fit with Preferred Homes' ethos of empowering people to live confidently with the support of Extra Care Housing.”

Richard Frank, Property Director at Preferred Homes said: "This is an exciting time for Preferred Homes, with the launch of Hunslet Moor House in Leeds in December and Stirchley House in Telford in March. We want to improve both the quality and quantity of housing for older people as a market-leading provider and are aiming to create 50 high quality, purpose-built new schemes over the next four to seven years. We're delighted to be working with Appello to deliver our purpose of supporting the independence of our residents."

The first of Preferred Home's developments, Hunslet Moor House in Leeds, is now open. It features Smart Living Solutions within its 51 one-bedroom apartments and 12 two-bedroom apartments. The scheme also has generous community space to support social activities and a community café for residents and their guests. Other developments in the pipeline include locations in Telford, Nottingham, Bicester, Shrewsbury and Crawley.

About Smart Living Solutions

Smart Living Solutions takes traditional warden call systems to the next level, helping people within supported housing feel safer and in control of their daily lives. Staff benefit from an easy to use management system, so they can carry out their duties efficiently and offer proactive support to residents.

Smart Living Solutions offers:

• almost instant, reliable digital communication
• high quality digital speech clarity  
• secure video door entry to see who is visiting
• communication options for residents, including video calling, an I'm OK function and optional Wi-Fi hotspots
• online management for remote working and valuable insights at your fingertips
• the flexibility to integrate with other services and products.

Smart Living Solutions is Appello’s flagship digital telecare solution. Our innovative and future-proof products cover everything from the essentials of digital telecare through to the transformation of supported housing services for truly person-centred care.

Find out how we’re simplifying the digital switchover for specialist housing providers. Contact us to discuss your requirements and get expert advice on a pain-free transition to digital telecare.