Frequently Asked Questions
The questions we’re asked most often, with straightforward answers. If you’re furnishing social housing, you’ll find the essentials here: fire compliance and standards, what we supply, lead times and delivery, rental options through Furniture Flex, and how ordering works. If your question isn’t covered, it’s not a sales call, just an honest conversation, so get in touch and we’ll answer it directly.
About FRC Living
What settings does FRC Living furnish?
We specialise in the social housing sector and have been working with housing providers since 1995. FRC Living furnishes social housing for housing associations, local authorities and support providers. We offer a personal service with a team who can speak with you about your specific requirements to ensure you choose the right things for the right settings and in budget. That includes temporary accommodation, supported and specialist housing, homelessness services, hostels, resettlement and next steps accommodation, key worker accommodation, and children’s homes. That’s not all, if a particular setting isn’t on the list get in touch and we can talk about what is needed.
What does FRC Living supply?
FRC Living supplies specialist furniture, that’s not all though, we also supply appliances, home essentials and starter packs, window coverings and flooring for social housing settings. From single replacement items to full scheme fit-outs, our range covers bedroom furniture, living and lounge furniture, dining, mattresses and beds, flooring, curtains and blinds, white goods and electricals, and starter packs of essential items such as fire retardant bedding, crockery, cookware etc. All the essential furniture and items, that are needed for everyday life, are compliant, robust, safe, value for money and suitable for use in social housing settings.
Does FRC Living offer furniture rental?
FRC Living supplies furniture for purchase, from single replacement items to full scheme fit-outs.
For social landlords who want a rental model, for furnished tenancies for example, that’s Furniture Flex, also part of FRC Group. Furniture Flex supplies contract-grade furniture and appliances on a weekly rental basis. Furniture Flex owns, maintains, repairs and replaces everything throughout, all within the weekly cost, and that cost sits on the tenancy service charge. Furniture Flex also handles delivery and installation direct to the tenant, so it doesn’t add to your team’s workload.
If a purchase model suits better, or a mix of rented and purchased items, Furniture Flex can structure that too. One supplier, one process, one point of contact.
You can find out more at furnitureflex.co.uk
What is End Furniture Poverty, and how is FRC Living connected to it?
End Furniture Poverty is a national campaign working to ensure no one in the UK has to live without essential furniture. Like End Furniture Poverty, FRC Living is part of FRC Group, and 100% of our profit goes to fund its work. Every order furnishes a home now and helps fund the wider effort.
Is FRC Living a charity?
FRC Living is a trading brand of Furniture Resource Centre Limited, a registered charity (charity number 700731, company number 02296329). Furniture Resource Centre Limited also operates under the working name FRC Group, which is the name used for its group of social businesses.
FRC Living is a commercial furniture business within the charity, supplying and specifying specialist furniture for the social housing sector. It operates as a social enterprise, run and judged like any other supplier on quality, reliability and service.
The surplus FRC Living generates is used to fund the charity’s mission to reduce and ultimately end furniture poverty, including the work of End Furniture Poverty, the charity’s research and campaigning arm.
Fire Compliance
Is the furniture supplied fire compliant, and to what standards?
Yes. FRC Living furniture is fire compliant as standard and tested at the point of order, with inspection-ready labelling. Living and lounge upholstery is tested to BS 7176 Medium Hazard and Crib 5. Mattresses and beds are tested to BS 7177 Medium Hazard and Crib 5. Curtains and blinds are compliant with BS 5867-2 Part B and C. The Chester bedroom storage range is independently tested to BS EN 16121:2023 Level 1 General Contract Use.
Who is responsible for the fire safety of furniture in social housing?
The social landlord or local authority is legally responsible for the fire safety of every piece of upholstered furniture in their properties, including sofas, beds, mattresses, headboards, cushions and curtains. That duty does not transfer to the furniture supplier. A supplier’s role is to make compliance straightforward to meet and simple to evidence at inspection, but the legal responsibility stays with the provider.
Is domestic fire-compliant furniture enough for communal and supported housing?
No. Furniture that meets domestic, low hazard testing standards is not sufficient for medium hazard settings which typically include shared living environments, homelessness schemes, communal spaces, supported housing, children’s homes or temporary accommodation. These settings require contract-grade furniture tested to the medium hazard standard. This is the distinction that catches providers out most often, and it is one a fire risk auditor will expect to see applied.
What does BS 7177 Medium Hazard mean for mattresses?
BS 7177 Medium Hazard is the standard that applies to mattresses and divans in social housing settings. To comply, the mattress must be tested for smouldering ignition to EN 597-1 and flaming ignition to EN 597-2, and it must pass both tests. A mattress that fails either test does not meet the standard and puts residents at greater risk in the event of a fire. Every mattress we supply is tested to BS 7177 Medium Hazard.
What should my furniture compliance paperwork show?
Compliance documentation should confirm the relevant standard for each item (BS 7176 Medium Hazard for seating, BS 7177 Medium Hazard for mattresses, BS 5867-2 Part B and C for window coverings), with inspection-ready affixed labelling. This remains available despite staff turnover, so that furniture supplied in previous years can still be evidenced, the regulatory risk sits with the provider.
What changed in the 2025 furniture fire safety regulations?
The 2025 amendments to the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 simplified the labelling requirements, but they also gave enforcement authorities more time to pursue non-compliance. Further changes are expected, including rules on chemical flame retardants. Because the regulations continue to change, compliance is best treated as an ongoing process rather than a one-off check.
Are window coverings part of fire compliance?
Yes. Window coverings are part of fire compliance, not separate from it, and they are one of the most commonly overlooked areas. Fire-retardant curtains and blinds in relevant settings should comply with BS 5867-2 Part B and C. Treating window coverings as part of the whole space helps ensure that a homely finish does not come at the cost of compliance.
How often should social housing furniture be replaced for compliance?
There’s no single fixed interval, because it depends on the setting, the condition of the furniture and any changes to regulations or how a space is used.
The practical approach taken by providers who manage this well is to align furniture replacement with the void cycle or planned scheme upgrades, rather than reacting after a fire risk audit flags an issue. This makes the process repeatable and predictable, and reduces emergency spend.
That reactive route is worth avoiding where you can. It’s not unusual for a fire risk assessment to identify furniture that needs replacing straight away, whether that’s upholstery that no longer meets the required standard, missing or illegible fire labelling, or items worn beyond safe use. Dealing with those one assessment at a time is more disruptive, and usually more expensive, than replacing on a planned cycle.
Ordering and delivery
Where does FRC Living deliver, and how quickly?
FRC Living delivers across the whole of the UK. Core items are held in stock and typically arrive within 5 working days on stocked lines, whether you need a single replacement piece or a full scheme fit-out. Our experienced DBS-checked teams are sensitive to residents’ needs and occupied schemes. They deliver, install, take away the old furniture and recycle the packaging, leaving a room ready to use.
Is FRC Living on any procurement frameworks?
Yes. FRC Living is top-ranked on procurement frameworks including PfH and Procurement Hub, Northern Housing Consortium and is also a framework supplier to NEPO, ESPO and a DPS supplier with CHIC. We are also accredited to ISO 9001 and ISO14001 and certified through SMAS, and we are a Living Wage employer.
Get in touch
One point of contact, one process, for every setting you manage. We specify against what the environment needs, hold core items in stock for delivery nationwide, and our DBS-checked delivery and install teams are used to occupied schemes and residents’ needs.
We supply, deliver, install, take away the old and recycle the packaging, and leave a room ready to use. Then we stay on for the replacements, repairs, refreshes and managing the guarantees.
