Also online at: www.dijonline.co.uk 104 THE door industry journal spring 2024 Entrance, Internal, Sliding & Bi-folding Doors The Key to More Secure Social Housing According to the latest government statistics1, there were 191,023 domestic burglaries in England and Wales during the year ending March 2023, equating to more than 500 a day. For those living in social housing, who are more likely to be a victim of burglary, the ongoing cost of living crisis is continuing to place more people into financial hardship, which could, in turn, increase the risk of crime across the UK. This issue has been highlighted in a new whitepaper2 by JELD-WEN UK, in partnership with the UK police initiative, Secured by Design (SBD), which explores the current security challenges within social housing. The paper includes research that found almost half of social housing tenants believed that crime was rising in their area, and 23% of those living in multi-occupancy properties had reported having experienced a security breach over the last 12 months (rising to 35% in London). Glyn Hauser, R&D Senior Group Manager at JELD-WEN UK, considers how dual certification of entrance doorsets could be the first step in creating safer, more secure housing for all: “The entrance to a dwelling continues to be the most common entry point for burglars, so as the first line of defence, more attention should be given to the level of security it provides. “A secure doorset that has been designed to meet the rigorous standards of enhanced security performance offers one of the most effective forms of physical security. “SBD requires manufacturers, like JELD-WEN, to go beyond legal requirements for its product to have a ‘Police Preferred Specification’, which gives confidence to buyers that the product will provide an enhanced level of security.” As part of the SBD certification process, a doorset must have gone through a series of rigorous assessments as part of PAS24. This includes measuring resistance against soft and hard body impact, through to hardware attack and manipulation, and endurance testing.
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