Portsmouth City Council is looking to invest nearly £60 million on its council housing stock with a focus on safety and improvement works, in proposals due to be discussed this month.
The budget, that will be presented at the decision meeting for the Cabinet Member for Housing and Preventing Homelessness on March 23, proposes that £28.6 million is allocated to repairing council housing across Portsmouth and Havant. A further £30.4 million is proposed to be invested in maintaining and improving council housing stock with investment linked to legal requirements, such as the Environment Act 2021 and the Building Safety Act 2022.
Works undertaken by the council over the last year have helped improve the condition of 59 blocks of flats and a total of 1709 individual homes.
The proposed works for 2023 to 2024 will focus on:
- general building repairs, servicing, and compliance
- fire safety works
- new, more efficient, heating systems
- updating kitchens and bathrooms
- making housing accessible for people with disabilities
- improving lighting in communal areas
- lift repairs and upgrades.
- warden call system upgrades
Cllr Darren Sanders, Cabinet Member for Housing and Preventing Homelessness said: “We’re committed to providing good quality, well-maintained housing for people in our council homes and we work hard with our tenants to support them, provide them with safe, energy efficient, healthy homes, and listen to their views. I look forward to discussing this budget at the meeting.”