Thousands of homes will be brought up to the government’s Decent Homes standard by 2015 following the biggest investment in North East Derbyshire council homes for a generation by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA).

Thousands of council tenants in North East Derbyshire are set to benefit from a massive £36m investment programme to improve their homes following confirmation that North East Derbyshire District Council, together with Rykneld Homes, has secured the funding from HCA to bring its council properties up to the Decent Homes standard by 2015.

The funding will build on Rykneld Homes' ambitious improvement programme to make council homes warmer, and fit them with modern kitchens, bathrooms, windows and doors.

-- Advertisement --

Improvements will be carried out across the district – with £19.7m of the funding allocated for work in 2013/14 and £16.2m for 2014/15.

The Decent Homes work is running alongside an ambitious regeneration programme to build the first new council homes in the district for decades, and to refurbish hundreds of other non-traditional properties to provide high quality homes for years to come.

In a joint statement, Cllr Graham Baxter MBE, North East Derbyshire District Council Leader, and Cllr Betty Hill, NEDDC's Member with responsibility for Housing, said: "This represents a huge investment in the future of council housing in North East Derbyshire, and is excellent news for our tenants. This funding will allow us to improve thousands of properties over the years ahead, to provide decent, high quality homes which will be fit for the future.

"Together with the wider regeneration of some of our homes which were built using non-traditional construction, we are now delighted to be in a position to make the biggest investment in council homes for a generation."

(CD)