A new independent business backed by MKM, Solvanta, has been launched with the aim to challenge and improve how materials are supplied into the UK’s social housing sector.
Solvanta has been purpose-built to support housing providers, including housing associations and local authorities, with a different approach to repairs and maintenance supply. Operating independently but backed by MKM Building Supplies, the business has been created specifically around the pressures facing modern social housing providers and the operational realities of maintaining ageing housing stock at scale.
The launch comes at a pivotal moment for the sector. Housing providers across the UK are navigating more change than they have faced in a generation: tighter budgets, growing regulatory scrutiny, ageing housing stock and increasing pressure to improve resident satisfaction. Yet the supply model most are using today was not built to meet those demands.
Solvanta will be led by Scott Cooper, who brings extensive experience working with providers of Social Housing in the UK. The business is being built from the ground up around the operational needs of housing providers rather than traditional merchanting models.
The business will specialise in repairs materials across electrical, heating, plumbing, renewables and general building materials, while structuring its operations around the outcomes housing providers themselves are measured against.
Alongside its operational model, Solvanta is operating on a dedicated technology foundation with AI driven systems focused on improving forecasting, stock visibility, purchasing intelligence and first-time repair completion rates across housing operations.
Scott Cooper, Managing Director at Solvanta, said: "In Social Housing, resident experience is everything and repairs is what drives it. Every repair starts with material supply which is often the largest contract a landlord holds. Yet no incumbent supplier has been built from the ground up around that reality.
"We're backed by a merchant, not run by one. The needs of a social landlord are fundamentally different to those of a general builder, and everything about how we've built the business, from the structure to the roles within it, to how we measure ourselves is built with that in mind.
"Building a business supplying the sector today means building one with technology in its foundations, not bolted onto a model designed twenty years ago. What's possible for a supply partner being created today is fundamentally different from one that was created 10 or even 5 years ago, and that's an advantage that we intend to use.
"Landlords are navigating more change than they've faced in a generation, and the current supply model wasn't built for it. We've combined deep sector experience, structural independence and a business designed around what's actually important to not only our customer and the residents they serve, to give the sector not just a slightly improved merchant offshoot but an entirely different option for materials supply."
One of Solvanta's key differentiators is the fact the business has been built entirely from scratch, allowing it to create new operational processes, structures and technology systems specifically for the sector.
Kate Tinsley, CEO at MKM Building Supplies, said: "What stands out to us about Solvanta was the clarity of its purpose and the strength of the thinking behind the model Scott and the team are building.
"At MKM Building Supplies, we've always believed in giving people the autonomy and trust to build businesses and relationships in the right way for their customers and local communities. That entrepreneurial culture and focus on doing the right thing is a big part of why Solvanta feels like such a natural fit for us.
"While Solvanta operates independently, it benefits from the backing, infrastructure and support of MKM Building Supplies, giving it a strong platform to build something genuinely aligned to the needs of the sector."
The business will officially showcase its proposition to the sector for the first time at Housing 2026 later this month.
