Decent Homes

What is a Decent Home?

The Government has set local authorities a target to bring all of their properties up to an agreed standard by 2010. This is called the Decent Homes Standard.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council will make all our properties meet the Decent Homes Standard.

This will help to provide every tenant with a safe secure, energy efficient, decent home to modern standards which will require less maintenance in the future.

How will you know if your home is to be improved?

Most city council properties have now been surveyed to identify whether they currently meet the Decent Homes Standard.

However if you have not yet had a survey please ring 233122 to make an appointment.

The survey will take about an hour. Following which we will advise you if your home requires any improvements and which items will need to be replaced.

The items to be checked will be:-

• kitchens
• bathrooms
• front and back doors
• roofs and chimneys
• central heating and insulation
• electrics
• external walls

When will the improvements take place?

If any of the items fail to meet the Decent Homes Standard following the survey, it may not be possible to give you a date for the work to be carried out immediately.

This is because it is necessary to inspect all properties in your area so that all similar items can be grouped together and undertaken as one large programme of works.

You will be advised in writing as soon as the programmes are confirmed and well before any work is carried out at your home. However, it will be necessary to carry out some of this renewal work over a number of years.

A Customer Liaison Officer will be on hand to keep you informed at every stage of the work and to ensure all works are completed to your satisfaction.

Why are we doing this?

You are important to us and we aim to provide you with a modern home with quality facilities.

We believe that providing you with improved housing and environments is essential to create sustainable communities. This will improve the prospects of making all areas of the city desirable places to live.

If you require any further information concerning Decent Homes installation please contact the Capital Works Programme team on 232702. For any other city council services, please ask at your local centre.