TEC in Housing: How Scotland's Housing Sector Is Using Technology Enabled Care

Technology Enabled Care, usually shortened to TEC, means using digital tools to help people live safely and independently at home. In Scotland, housing providers have become some of its most important champions. TEC in Housing is the website that brings their work together in one place.

The site was created as part of TEC Ready, a programme funded by the Scottish Government. TEC Ready recognises the valuable contribution the housing sector makes to the use of technology enabled care, and the website exists to support that contribution.

A showcase of what already works

TEC in Housing is meant to inspire. Rather than talking about technology in the abstract, it shows the ways housing organisations are already using TEC to deliver housing solutions across Scotland. Visitors can also hear directly from the people leading some of the most innovative TEC developments in the country.

The case studies on the site include:

Aberdeen City Council, with its MyChoice Meals Ordering Service. Albyn Housing Society, with Fit Homes. Blackwood, with CleverCogs™. Loreburn Housing Association, with ARMED. Perth and Kinross Council, with its TEC Strategy. Tighean Innse Gall, with A Tablet for the Patient.

Between them, the six examples cover councils and housing associations, from the cities to the islands, which shows that TEC is not limited to one kind of landlord or one part of Scotland.

Voices from the sector

Video plays a big part on the site. In one film, Fanchea Kelly, Chief Executive of Blackwood and Chair of TEC Ready, talks about what technology enabled care means for housing. A second film, Creating Housing Solutions Through Technology, looks at how digital tools are turned into practical answers for tenants.

The TEC in Housing Charter

The most important part of the site is the TEC in Housing Charter. Any organisation that wants to show its support for TEC-based housing solutions can sign up to it. Signing means committing to seven pledges:

Pledge 1: Opportunity and solution focused. Pledge 2: Engaging with customers. Pledge 3: Working in partnership. Pledge 4: Preventative analytics. Pledge 5: Service redesign. Pledge 6: Supporting the workforce. Pledge 7: Getting the infrastructure right.

Taken together, the pledges cover the whole journey: spotting where technology can help, involving tenants, working with partners, using data to prevent problems before they happen, redesigning services, training staff, and putting the right systems in place. The site keeps a list of signatory organisations and offers the pledges and a sign-up form to download.

Built to be accessible

A site about independent living has to be usable by everyone. TEC in Housing includes the Userway tool, found through a blue icon at the top right of the screen. It lets visitors adjust text sizes and can read the page aloud, which matters for older people and anyone with a visual impairment.

A record that stretches back years

The Internet Archive's Wayback Machine holds 71 captures of techousing.co.uk, from 17 February 2019 to 3 April 2026. The July 2019 capture shows the site's full menu: About TEC Ready, the TEC Housing Solutions case studies, the Charter and its Pledges, the signatory list, Resources and Contact.

Why it matters

Scotland, like the rest of the UK, has an ageing population and growing demand for care. Housing is where people spend most of their lives, so landlords are well placed to help tenants stay safe, connected and independent. TEC in Housing gives those landlords real examples to learn from and a shared set of pledges to work towards. Visit techousing.co.uk to read the case studies or sign up to the Charter.