Accent Nene Maintenance Investment Good News For Residents

Published by Mike Holland for Accent Nene in Housing and also in Communities

Peterborough housing association Accent Nene part of the Accent Group is investing over £3 million a year in maintaining its 3,500 rented and shared equity homes throughout Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, East Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, Rutland and Nottinghamshire.

Over £2 million of this is being used for kitchen and bathroom renovations, heating and boiler renewal, the replacement of TV aerials and exterior decorations. Last year 117 kitchens were replaced, together with 54 central heating systems.

The 100th kitchen was replaced at Black Prince Avenue in Market Deeping, where the refurbishment included new units, work tops, floor and wall tiles and decoration. Mrs Walton commented on the works: I love my new kitchen. The workmen were great, hard working and nothing was too much trouble.

Ken Fox, technical services manager at Accent Nene, said: This investment programme demonstrates our commitment to providing high quality homes for our tenants

Accent Nene has been upgrading all communal TV aerials for digital reception, where site surveys indicate the need. Work is well in hand and should be completed by the end of 2008, well in advance of the digital changeover in 2012.

Where possible local contractors have been used on the refurbishment works - including Fosters, CLC and Wheldons - with long term contracts being offered.

Ken Fox added: We are very pleased with the way the new five-year partnering contracts are working. Not only are we able to provide best value, the quality of the work is high. Residents can be confident that in benefiting from our investment they will have quality work carried out to high specifications.

An additional benefit is that contractors are required to take on apprentices, which provides a boost to local employment."