THE first year of Thurrock Council’s programme to improve its entire housing stock has seen more than 2000 properties improved, created jobs and apprenticeships and improved community facilities.
Transforming Homes is a five year programme to assess and improve the council’s housing stock of 10,300 homes.
The review of its first year, which ended in June, reported that 80% of the residents who have benefitted so far described the programme as good or excellent. A further 13% said it was fair.
However the council was determined that the £68m initiative should deliver wider community and employment benefit. Contracts with our building partners included requirements to deliver those benefits. In the first year this resulted in:
Jobs for 83 local people, many of whom had been out of work for years
14 apprenticeships for local young people
Refurbishment of eight war memorial sites and improvement to three community halls
Just over one-third of the £15m spent so far has gone to local businesses.
Both the inside and outside of homes are being assessed and improved on a neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood basis – with priority given to those judged most in need of refurbishment. Many homes have received new bathrooms or kitchens – often both. Residents were involved in choosing the design and colour of their bathroom or kitchen.
Some £2m has been set aside to tackle and remove damp and mould.
The council’s portfolio holder for housing, Cllr Lynn Worrall, said: “This is the most ambitious housing improvement programme in Thurrock’s history. I doubt there are many councils in the country with such comprehensive plans for improving thousands of homes while benefitting the wider community.
“To ensure the widest possible community benefit, our contractors agreed to improve local community halls and refurbish local war memorial sites for free as part of their contracts. It is also heartening to see the figures show we are keeping our pledge to create jobs and apprenticeships for local people – especially the young and the long-term unemployed.”
