Association First To Receive Drone Permission

Walsall Housing Group (WHG) has become the first housing association in the country to secure permission from the Civil Aviation Authority to use drones in order to inspect properties. WHG was approved by watchdog the CAA on 10 June as a commercial operator of unmanned vehicles weighing less than 7kg. The group claims using drones could save it around £20,000 a year by allowing it to inspect roofs without erecting scaffolding. Kate Fitzsimons, director of new business at WHG, said the group was training up “a number of colleagues” to qualify as Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) pilots. However, another social landlord, Bromford Group, has ruled out using drones for maintenance inspection after admitting using ladders to check properties would be more cost effective. Read more on Inside Housing.