Birmingham to invest £102 million into its council homes

Birmingham City Council’s Cabinet is set to approve a £102 million budget for investment in council properties this year (2010/11) at its meeting on 8 March.

Since 2004, the council has invested £673 million of its own money to carry out the Decent Homes programme, making improvement to 50,000 properties and over 3,000 homes will benefit during the course of this year.

Birmingham is one of the few local authorities on track to meet the government’s target for 95 per cent decent homes by 2010, despite a report by the Audit Commission predicting that nationally it would be “all but impossible” for all local authorities and housing associations to meet this target.
Tenants have been instrumental in setting priorities for the works which include cavity wall, loft, roof and external wall insulation. The additional insulation will improve thermal efficiency for homes, helping the council to reduce CO2 emissions to create a greener, cleaner Birmingham.

As part of the council’s drive to tackle fuel poverty more council homes will be installed with energy efficient central heating and double glazed windows and £47 million of the budget will help achieve warm, weatherproof homes with reasonably modern facilities.

Improving security is also a high priority and all homes will benefit from Secured by Design front doors and windows. The replacement of timber fascias and soffits with pvc materials, the re-roofing of some properties and the execution of other associated works will help to reduce future maintenance costs.

Councillor John Lines, cabinet member for housing said: “Birmingham’s tenants chose to keep the council as their landlord in April 2002, when less than 30 per cent of our stock was decent. When I became cabinet member for housing in June 2004, I was obliged to find a way to deliver decent homes from the council’s own resources.

“We have made excellent progress, despite the inadequate and inequitable government financial support. The level of decency has increased steadily, from 34 per cent in April 2004, to 90 per cent by March 2009. We will exceed the 95 per cent national target this year.

“We have always recognised that this investment is crucial to the health and well-being of our citizens, who deserve to live in decent homes. I am confident that warm, energy efficient, modern homes will vastly improve the quality of life of our tenants and better homes mean healthier, thriving communities.”

Customer satisfaction levels continue to exceed 95 per cent for decent homes work, with customers participating in design team meetings, procurement of materials and any special needs indentified prior to works commencing on site are incorporated into the customer’s schedule of works.

The council will also continue to fit new kitchens and bathrooms as part of its decent homes plus programme. Properties with kitchens that are more than 20 years old and bathrooms more than 30 years old will be modernised, once the main decent homes programme has been delivered.