Housing reports on improvement progress

05 November 2013

The Housing Minister has sent an update to States Members on the department’s progress in achieving Decent Homes Standards in its properties.

The work is an essential part of the Housing Transformation Programme agreed by the States Assembly in May this year.

This year has already seen the completion of decent homes refurbishment projects on the Clos Gosset, Pomme D'or Farm and Jardin Des Carreaux family estates. This work included improving thermal performance, replacing windows and doors and improving internal facilities. A similar project is nearing completion at the La Collette high-rise building.

Housing Minister Deputy Andrew Green said “I am extremely proud of the work my department is doing. We are aiming to have all housing properties up to Decent Homes Standards within the next ten years and this will be delivered by our refurbishment programme. The development of new social rented homes is of vital importance and we have a number of projects being prepared. We have already provided significant support to the local construction industry and our future programme will also provide valuable stimulus.”

Planned maintenance programme

Individual homes are also being brought up to decent homes standards and maintained at that level through a programme of planned maintenance which focuses on improvements such as new bathrooms and kitchens and cavity wall and loft insulation.

So far in 2013 the Planned Maintenance Team have:

replaced 106 bathrooms
replaced 248 kitchens
carried out external decorations on 23 estates
externally decorated Le Marais high-rise
serviced windows at Le Marais high-rise
controlled asbestos removal from Lord Coutanche Court
improved the thermal efficiency of eight estates by upgrading the cavity wall insulation
improved the thermal efficiency of five more estates by upgrading the loft insulation
installed new windows and doors in properties at Belmont Road, Dorset Mews and Old St John's Road
installed new lifts at Liberation Court and Brighton Close
fitted new emergency lighting systems on five estates.

In addition to refurbishing existing stock, Housing presently has 148 new homes under construction:

80 homes at Langtry Gardens (32 of which are for the Parish of St Saviour)
nine homes at 1 – 4 Journeaux Street
35 homes at Phase 1 of Lesquende at Les Quennevais and
24 homes at Phase 2 of Le Squez

Additional projects are also planned for 2014 and beyond. Housing are starting to organise the final stages of redevelopment at Le Squez which will see the delivery of a further 137 high quality and sustainable new homes, 21 of which will commence in 2014. Other projects include an additional 23 new homes in Ann Street, 44 new homes on Phase 2 of the Lesquende project as well as planned refurbishments of the De Quetteville Court, Convent Court and Caesarea Court Towers.

The Minister also said that none of the department’s properties had suffered any structural damage during recent storms.

“A lot of the early work we have done on achieving decent homes standards has been on ensuring that our properties are wind and water tight. The value of this work can be seen in the fact that our homes have not experienced any significant damage as a result of the recent high winds,” he said.