Almost 9,000 Stoke-on-Trent council homes benefit from multi-million pound investment

More than 8,900 council-owned homes have been upgraded in Stoke-on-Trent during the first year of a multi-million pound capital investment programme.

In August 2023, Stoke-on-Trent City Council announced that it was investing £117 million into its housing stock over the next five years, as part of its bid to raise housing standards in the city.

The programme will also support the building of new homes, the remodelling and extending of existing properties to accommodate larger families and the installation of energy efficiency measures to ensure all properties achieve a minimum Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating C by 2030.

Now the latest figures have revealed that 8,907 homes in the city have benefitted from the investment so far. The work which has been carried out includes:

• Improvement works to over 1,780 homes – this includes central heating upgrades, the installation of new kitchens, bathrooms, internal and external doors, roofing and pointing works, electrical installations and necessary structural works.
• Energy efficiency upgrades to over 1,590 homes – this includes the installation of external wall insulation and renewal of cavity wall and loft insulation.
• Fire safety inspection and maintenance to 5,133 homes – this includes fire risk assessments, the checking and safe operation of 3,875 fire doors and the installation of 34 specialist smoke detectors at homes occupied by residents with hearing impairments.

In addition to this, improvement work has been carried out to 350 bungalows in Dresden, Longton and Goldenhill and across estates in Meir and Sneyd Green. These works have included roof replacements and the replacement of the soffits, facias and guttering, as well as the external cladding, external doors and store doors.

Councillor Chris Robinson, cabinet member for housing and planning, said: “I am really proud of what has been achieved through our capital investment programme so far in just a short space of time.

“This work is a key part of our commitment to raising housing standards in the city, and ensuring all our residents can live in decent, safe and warm homes. It also complements the work we have already carried out through our damp and mould campaign which has seen us treat more than 9,800 properties over the last nine months.

“We have already worked on thousands of council-owned homes across the city and overall it will benefit around 14,500 properties in Stoke-on-Trent by 2028. We intend to continue this important work over the next four years and have already identified crucial areas for improvement that we will be focusing on in the next 12 months.”

Since the launch of the capital investment scheme last year, the council has taken a number of steps to improve housing for residents across the city.

This includes the installation of energy efficiency improvements at council and privately-owned homes in the city following successful bids for government funding through the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) and the Local Authority Delivery (LAD) Scheme.

Work has also started to clear and replace five former sheltered housing sites in the city and prepare them to be brought forward for re-development. At the same time, a new Older People’s Housing Strategy and Fuel Poverty Strategy have been adopted by the authority as well as a new Tenants’ Charter and Service Standards.