£45 million improvements for Nottingham council homes

Published by Max Salsbury for 24dash.com in Housing and also in Central Government, Development

Nottingham's council homes are set to benefit from over £45m in improvements by 2015, after the Government announced it will fund the work.

ALMO Nottingham City Homes (NCH) has already fitted over 110,000 new windows to 16,500 properties; improved the heating systems in 13,000; and modernised more than 18,000 bathrooms and kitchens as part of its Decent Homes programme.

The HCA (Homes and Communities Agency) has now told NCH it will receive the remainder of the grant, allowing it to bring all of its 28,500 homes up to the Decent Homes standard.

NCH Chief Executive, Nick Murphy, said: “We are committed to creating homes and places where people want to live.  This funding will go a long way to making sure all the homes we manage are secure, warm and modern.

“But this is about far more than delivering much needed improvements to our homes.

“We can demonstrate how investing in decent housing also reduces crime, improves people’s heath and creates real jobs for local people. This is the biggest investment in council homes in a generation and it is transforming the quality of life for thousands of people.”  

NCH Board Chair, Janet Storar MBE, added: “This is excellent news for Nottingham and all of our tenants – many of whom worked tirelessly to get the funding through the ‘Nott Decent’ campaign, lobbying MPs and the Government.

“Together we made a strong case for why this investment will benefit not just council tenants but the whole city. I’m grateful to all our local MPs for raising the issues in Parliament and with Ministers.”

Nottingham South MP Lilian Greenwood said: “This is fantastic news for tenants and Nottingham as a whole, and I’m glad that we were able to persuade the Government that the money will be well spent.

“The investment will improve homes and neighbourhoods as well as providing much needed jobs at a time of double dip recession. This funding was in serious doubt, and it’s a real victory for Nottingham that it will now be delivered.”