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Friday 9th January 2004 |
11/2004 |
Council tenants have given an overwhelming ‘thumbs up’ to Wigan & Leigh Housing’s efforts to improve homes across the borough.
Just over a year ago, the ‘arms length’ company that manages Wigan Council’s 25,000 houses won £58million of government cash to finance a massive modernisation programme. The first tranche of the cash has to be spent this financial year, so contractors have been busy with security, fencing and parking schemes, insulation and damp proof work, refitting kitchens, upgrading bathrooms, rewiring, re-roofing, and making substantial inroads into the backlog of structural repairs.
Councillors at Wednesday’s (7th January) Regeneration Panel heard that tenant satisfaction rates were extremely high, with contractors scoring consistently above 90% for attitude, tidiness, information and the finished work. Wigan & Leigh Housing was commended for its administration and its achievements so far, and for its record on communicating with tenants.
Members were also told that the council’s half-yearly inspection of Wigan & Leigh Housing’s performance was an encouraging one, especially with regard to reducing in the number of vacant houses and the length of time they are empty. The company was found to be making very good progress in reducing rent arrears and maximising its income, achieving a reduction of over £¼million in arrears during 2002/03.
Councillor David Molyneux, Cabinet Member for Regeneration said:
“Wigan & Leigh Housing is facing an enormous challenge in trying to spend over £58million in a very short space of time and we are very impressed with the progress they and their contractors are making on behalf of the borough’s council tenants. Their performance compares very favourably with the country’s other arms length management organisations.
“But it hasn’t all been plain sailing and we did express certain concerns. Some tenants have endured a lot of upheaval during the works and hadn’t always been told what to expect. We appreciate that this is a steep learning curve, but lessons need to be learned fast to make sure problems are minimised and, where they do occur, are dealt with as quickly and effectively as possible. We have held discussions with management and are confident that they will be. We are now on track to bring every home in the borough up to decency standard by 2008 — two years before the government’s deadline.”
Wigan & Leigh Housing hopes to invest over £250million into council housing over the next five years and continue to improve its performance along the way. To assist in this, tenants will be given an improved information pack explaining what modernisation works actually entail; quality control will be improved and a new customer services officer will be appointed to enhance services to tenants during the programme of works.
For more information, please contact Peter Gee, Chief Executive, Wigan & Leigh Housing on 01942 827401