Improvements made to seventy houses

A total of 70 tenants in Lisburn are set to benefit for a refit of kitchens to modern, high quality specifications and there are also plans for double glazing schemes throughout the district.

Welcoming the move, chairman of the Housing Executive, Donald Hoodless, said the aim was to make homes as “comfortable and as energy-efficient” as possible.

“As a responsible landlord and as the Home Energy Conservation Authority for Northern Ireland, we aim to make our homes as comfortable and and as energy-efficient as possible,” said Mr Hoodless.

“We started heating replacement schemes to over 296 homes - a major boost for our tenants living in houses where there are old, inefficient systems.

“These will now be replaced with more efficient gas or oil systems.

“We are also carrying out double glazing schemes to all our home which will mean greater energy efficienty, noise reduction and lower heating costs.”

In Lisburn district, the housing chief said double glazing schemes had been started in over 820 homes, with a further 102 due to join the scheme within the next few weeks.

“In addition to these schemes of work, we also spent almost £1.4 million carrying out routine repairs to tenants’ homes,” Mr Hoodless added. “We will continue to prioritise and invest in our stock to ensure all our tenants live in homes which meet modern day living standards as well as contributing to the local economy with local contractors.

“Over the coming weeks we will be investing a further £20 million in schemes to improve homes.”

The Executive’s total investment across Northern Ireland this year has involved 20,811 households, representimg over £53 million worth of improvements.