Managed Print & Photocopiers for Housing Associations & Social Housing
Housing associations steward public and social capital on behalf of communities. Every pound spent on print infrastructure that isn’t delivering value is a pound not spent on homes, services or tenant support. With Homes England scrutiny, board accountability and regulatory oversight from the Regulator of Social Housing, the case for a properly managed, cost-controlled print estate has never been stronger.
The sector at a glance
At 31 March 2025, 1,581 registered providers of social housing in England owned around 4.5 million homes, including approximately 2.9 million homes owned by private registered providers[1]. The sector operates under the Regulator of Social Housing’s consumer and economic standards and the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023.
Document volumes in housing associations are substantial. Tenancy agreements, rent statements, arrears notices, anti-social behaviour correspondence, repair orders, estate inspection reports, board papers, regulatory submissions and grant documentation all flow through print and scan infrastructure on a daily basis. The shift to hybrid working and multi-site operations — supported offices, sheltered schemes, development sites, community hubs — adds logistical complexity that an unmanaged print estate struggles to handle efficiently.
The Procurement for Housing framework provides a compliant, competitive route to market for managed print services — one that many housing associations have used to drive significant cost reductions without sacrificing functionality. Where procurement has been approached strategically, the results consistently demonstrate that print is one of the most accessible areas in which housing associations can generate genuine, quantifiable savings whilst improving service quality for staff and tenants alike.
Challenges we see in the sector
Large document volumes with no cost visibility
Housing associations generate millions of pages annually across tenancy correspondence, repair workflows, compliance documentation and back-office administration. Without centralised reporting, this volume is invisible — costs accumulate across sites and departments with no mechanism to identify the highest-impact reduction opportunities or hold teams accountable for unnecessary printing.
Multi-site operations with fragmented print estates
Most housing associations operate from multiple locations — a head office, supported housing schemes, community hubs, development offices and local service points. Each site may have acquired its own devices over time, on different contracts, with different specifications. The resulting estate is oversized, difficult to manage centrally, and typically delivering poor value for money against what a consolidated, managed contract would achieve.
Sensitive tenant data and secure document handling
Housing associations handle personal and sensitive information about tenants — arrears and financial circumstances, anti-social behaviour records, safeguarding information, mental health and support needs. Under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, the obligation to handle this information securely applies equally to physical documents as it does to digital records. Uncollected print jobs left in shared trays are a straightforward but often overlooked data breach risk.
Value for money obligations to boards and regulators
The Regulator of Social Housing’s value for money standard requires that registered providers demonstrate efficiency in their use of resources. Boards and audit committees scrutinise operational expenditure with increasing rigour. A print contract that has been in place for years without competitive review, or a device estate that has never been formally audited, represents exactly the kind of unexamined cost that the value for money standard is designed to surface.
Agile working and staff mobility across sites
Post-pandemic, housing association staff increasingly work across multiple locations — home, office, community venues and scheme visits. Without follow-me printing capability, staff cannot release jobs at whichever site they happen to be working from. Print jobs pile up uncollected at home locations, wasting consumables and creating the security risk of sensitive documents sitting in unattended print trays.
Green and sustainability commitments
Many housing associations have adopted formal sustainability strategies, net zero commitments, and Social Value reporting obligations aligned to their Homes England funding conditions. Without granular data on print volumes, energy consumption and consumable use, it is impossible to set meaningful paper reduction targets, demonstrate progress to boards, or report against ESG metrics in a way that satisfies either internal governance or external funders.
How we help
Print estate audit and fleet rationalisation
We begin every engagement with a comprehensive audit of your existing print estate — assessing usage patterns, device locations, contract terms and costs across all sites. The findings consistently reveal opportunities to reduce device numbers significantly without compromising functionality. We position strategically placed, high-capability MFDs to serve the organisation more effectively with fewer devices — driving immediate, sustainable cost reductions.
Procurement routes and eligibility
We have no confirmed listing on the Procurement for Housing framework. Do not assume that All UK Copiers or Total Business Group can be appointed through it; your procurement team should confirm any route and your eligibility before proceeding.
Secure print release for sensitive tenant documents
Where included in the selected device, licences and configuration, fob, card or PIN authentication means documents are only printed when the authorised user is physically present at the device. This helps keep tenancy documents, arrears correspondence, safeguarding records and personal case files out of shared print trays. Audit logs can record print activity — supporting GDPR accountability and providing evidence for any future data incident investigation.
Follow-me printing for a mobile workforce
Staff can print from any device and collect their output at whichever of your sites they happen to be working from — whether that’s head office, a community hub or a supported housing scheme. No jobs left uncollected at unattended locations. No workarounds. Just a straightforward, secure print experience that supports genuinely flexible working.
Scan-to-housing-management-system integration
Our MFDs can scan directly into the document management and housing management systems your teams already use — including Civica, Aareon, Capita and others. Maintenance reports, inspection records, tenancy paperwork and correspondence are captured digitally at the point of creation, indexed correctly, and available immediately to the relevant team — without manual re-keying or paper routing delays.
Sustainability reporting and paper reduction data
Our managed print platform provides detailed reporting on print volumes, paper consumption, energy use and cost allocation by site, team and individual user. This data supports your organisation’s sustainability strategy — enabling you to set evidence-based reduction targets, track progress over time, and report against your ESG commitments and Homes England Social Value obligations with confidence.
What this looks like in practice
Two-thirds cost reduction at We Are Aspire
We Are Aspire — a community anchor organisation comprising Aspire Housing, Achieve Training and the Realise charity — was printing 1.2 million pages annually across seven sites on a fleet of 43 devices costing £90,000 per year. Toshiba replaced this with just seven strategically positioned e-STUDIO MFPs, reducing annual print costs to £30,000. Staff gained follow-me printing across all sites using security card authentication — supporting the organisation’s shift to flexible, agile working.
50% cost reduction and paperless goals advanced at Plus Dane Housing
Plus Dane Housing in Liverpool and Cheshire had accumulated a print fleet that had grown without strategic oversight, with costs higher than they needed to be and no visibility of usage patterns. A Toshiba audit led to a rationalised fleet of strategically positioned MFDs with comprehensive reporting. Annual print costs fell by 50%, and for the first time management had the granular data needed to drive evidence-based paper reduction initiatives aligned to the organisation’s green and paperless objectives.
Zero-risk proof of concept at Cross Keys Homes
Cross Keys Homes — a development programme delivering more than 2,500 new homes — needed to modernise its print estate, rationalise devices and implement secure staff access. Toshiba proposed a proof of concept with two machines at Head Office before committing to a full rollout, removing all risk from the decision. The full deployment — procured through the Procurement for Housing framework — delivered £100,000 in annual savings and secure fob access for staff across all sites.
What to look for in a print partner
- A procurement route your organisation has confirmed it can use
- Proven track record of fleet rationalisation delivering quantifiable savings in the social housing sector
- Secure print release with fob, card or PIN authentication for sensitive tenant documentation
- Follow-me printing capability across all your sites for a genuinely mobile workforce
- Scan-to-system integration with housing management platforms (Civica, Aareon, Capita etc.)
- Granular reporting by site, department and user to support value for money evidence
- Sustainability data to support ESG reporting and paper reduction target-setting
- A consultative, audit-led approach — not a hardware push
The bottom line
The housing associations that have engaged strategically with their print estates have consistently found the same thing: they were spending significantly more than they needed to, without the reporting visibility to know it. Fleet rationalisation, framework procurement and managed print contracts have delivered savings of between 50% and 67% in documented cases — money that goes directly back into housing and tenant services.
All UK Copiers works with housing associations across England and Wales to deliver print estates that are lean, managed, compliant and demonstrably efficient. We audit before we recommend, and build long-term partnerships grounded in transparent costs, measurable outcomes, and the operational knowledge of what this sector actually needs from its print infrastructure.
Sources: [1] Regulator of Social Housing — 2025 stock and rent statistics
Statistics cited above are drawn from the sources listed. Illustrative examples and ranges presented elsewhere on this page reflect our operational experience delivering managed print services to UK housing associations and social landlords.
Is your housing association getting value from its print investment?
We work with housing associations and registered providers across the UK. Talk to us about your current setup — even if you’re not sure what you’re currently spending, we can help you find out and show you what’s possible.