Thought leadership

At Stonewater, our ambition is to build a reputation as a thought leader within the housing sector. Our size and financial strength gives us the opportunity to be a leading voice in the industry, as well as champion causes that will have positive impacts on our customers, the housing sector, and the environment we live in.

We aim to influence national and local agendas in support of our vision ‘for everyone to have the opportunity to have a place that they can call home’ and to ensure that our customers are supported. To achieve this, we will continue to raise our profile and engage with a range of stakeholders to promote the interests of the sector and our customers.

We have been working closely with some of the UK’s leading researchers on a number of projects over the past few years. This includes:

  • Working with IPPR to find a solution to the significant challenge of decarbonising the UK’s existing housing stock, with a focus on tackling fuel poverty
  • Working with the University of Stirling to investigate how assistive and everyday technologies can be implemented in retirement living properties to improve residents’ quality of life and sustain inclusive communities
  • Recently launching a new research project with Demos to explore the impact of Covid-19 and the shift to home working on low paid workers

Our work has stimulated debate in these areas, including securing government funding and driving sectoral change.

Recently, our work on decarbonisation in housing was shortlisted for the PR Week 2021 Awards for Public Affairs Campaign of the Year, demonstrating the impact that it has had on influencing the sector and the Government.

We are always looking for further opportunities to develop new thinking – particularly where it helps to support our customers. If you’d like to find out more about our thought leadership programme, including partnership opportunities for future projects, please contact us

Realising retrofit

solar panels

Our work with IPPR looks at opportunities to deliver retrofit in the social housing sector.

INVITE project

digital inclusion

Our partnership with the University of Stirling explores how technology can support residents to live well and safely.

The Future of Work

working on the sofa

We aim to better understand the challenges, opportunities and inequalities created by the pandemic. 

Reinventing homes

reinventing our homes

Learn more about our work to reduce energy bills through innovative heating solutions and flexible space for homeworking.