The digital telecare countdown: what housing providers must do before January 2027

With fewer than nine months until the UK’s copper phone network is permanently retired, the clock is ticking for social housing providers.

On 31 January 2027, analogue landline services will cease, and with them, the infrastructure that underpins a significant proportion of telecare devices used by vulnerable tenants across England and Wales.

The scale of the challenge is sobering. Across grouped living schemes, including sheltered, supported and retirement housing, only around a quarter have completed the migration from analogue to digital telecare. In individual social homes the picture is somewhat better, but far too many tenants still depend on devices that were never designed to operate over digital IP networks.

The consequence of inaction is stark. A tenant who falls, who suffers a medical episode, who presses their alarm expecting help, could find that nothing happens. For housing associations, councils and ALMOs, that is not just an operational risk. It is a safeguarding failure.

Why urgency is not translating into action

The curious thing about the digital switchover is that almost everyone in the sector knows about it. Research has shown that awareness among housing providers sits close to 100%. Yet fewer than one in four consider it a major concern.

Several factors explain this gap. Some organisations are banking on the deadline being pushed back again, having watched it move once before. It will not. The migration is already underway across the UK and telecoms providers are proceeding at pace. Others are simply overwhelmed. With damp and mould remediation, fire safety compliance, decarbonisation targets and tenant satisfaction measures all competing for attention, the digital switchover has struggled to command the boardroom spotlight it deserves.

There is also a knowledge gap. Many housing teams are unsure what practical steps the transition involves, which devices need replacing, which can be reconfigured and where the responsibility sits between the housing provider, the telecare supplier and the telecoms company. This uncertainty breeds delay, and delay is the one thing housing providers cannot afford.

Procurement’s role goes far beyond sourcing equipment

It would be easy to see the digital switchover as a technology project: audit the devices, buy replacements, install and move on. But housing providers that approach it this way risk missing the bigger opportunity and, worse, locking themselves into solutions that do not serve tenants well.

This is where procurement teams can add significant value. Their role is not limited to running tenders and negotiating prices. It extends to shaping what gets bought and why, making sure the specification reflects tenants’ needs, that suppliers are held to meaningful standards and that contracts deliver sustained performance, not just initial savings.

Designing specifications that put tenants first

The starting point for any telecare procurement should be the people who will rely on it. That means understanding your tenant population: their ages, their conditions, their living arrangements and the care pathways they are connected to. A blanket replacement programme that swaps analogue pendants for digital equivalents misses the point.

Digital technology enabled care (TEC) offers capabilities that analogue systems simply could not. Predictive analytics that identify deterioration before a crisis. Wearable devices that work outside the home, not just within it. Integration with smart home technologies that tenants may already use. Systems that give care teams and families better visibility of risk, enabling earlier intervention.

A strong specification captures these outcomes, not just a list of devices. It should define what the telecare service needs to achieve for tenants, how systems must integrate with existing peripherals, how they should scale as tenant numbers and needs change, and crucially, whether the solution is fully digital from end to end. Some products marketed as digital still rely on analogue components at certain points in the chain, and those hidden dependencies are exactly the kind of risk that a well-crafted specification should eliminate.

Setting quality standards that protect lives

Telecare is not a discretionary service. It is life-critical technology. The quality standards built into procurement processes must reflect that reality.

Housing providers should be specifying compliance with recognised industry benchmarks: BS 8521-2 for grouped living environments, EN 50134 for dispersed alarm systems and BS 8684 for TEC services. Certification through TEC Quality’s Quality Standards Framework (QSF) provides an additional layer of assurance, embedding standards into the supply chain and holding both suppliers and service providers accountable for reliability and performance.

For procurement teams, insisting on these benchmarks is not gold-plating. It is a practical measure that reduces the likelihood of device failure, improves service consistency and gives organisations defensible evidence that they have procured responsibly. In a regulatory environment where tenant safety is under closer scrutiny than ever, that evidence matters.

Managing contracts as if lives depend on it

Because they do. Once a telecare contract is awarded, the real work begins. Procurement and operational teams must actively monitor delivery against agreed key performance indicators. Regular performance reviews, clear escalation routes and open communication with suppliers are all essential to catching problems early, preventing value leakage and maintaining the reliability that tenants depend on.

This is not bureaucratic overhead. It is the mechanism through which housing providers ensure that the promises made during the tender process translate into consistent, dependable service on the ground. Where contracts are left to drift, standards slip, response times lengthen and tenants are put at risk.

Treating the switchover as a catalyst, not a compliance exercise

The organisations that will handle this transition best are those that see it as more than a deadline to meet. The shift from analogue to digital telecare is an opportunity to fundamentally rethink how care and support are delivered to tenants.

Personalised, proactive systems that use data and insight to anticipate need, rather than simply respond to emergencies, can transform outcomes for tenants while also delivering operational efficiencies. Fewer avoidable call-outs. Better reliability. Clearer visibility of risk across the housing stock. Staff freed up to focus on in-person care where it is needed most.

Housing providers that approach the switchover with this broader ambition, led by procurement teams who understand both the technology and the tenants it serves, will emerge with a telecare service that is not just digital-ready, but genuinely fit for the future.

Where to find support

The transition can feel daunting, but housing providers do not need to navigate it alone. A number of organisations offer practical, accessible guidance. The TSA provides TEC buyer guidance, digital readiness checklists and supplier assessment tools. The LGA’s Digital Switchover Hub brings together toolkits, FAQs and examples from councils that have already made the move. The NHF offers briefings on risk and tenant impact, and the Government’s Telecare National Action Plan sets out the actions it expects stakeholders to take to protect telecare users throughout the switchover.

The message to housing providers is clear: start now, if you have not already. Audit your systems. Understand which devices need upgrading. Make the switchover a visible organisational priority with board-level ownership. And use procurement as the strategic function it should be, not just to buy new equipment, but to ensure that every tenant who depends on telecare continues to be protected.

Amanda Rimmer is category manager at Procurement for Housing (PfH)

This article is based on an opinion piece published in Housing Digital.

How PfH can help

Technologies for Independent Living: Telecare, Telehealth framework provides access to the sector’s most comprehensive selection of digital telecare equipment and services from leading suppliers, helping you source compliant, future-proof solutions quickly.

Compliance Solutions framework covers a range of compliance-related services, including those relevant to the safety and regulatory requirements of the digital switchover.

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