Pictured above: (l-r) Chan Kataria, Chief Executive of East
Midlands Housing Group, resident Barbara Battison and Colin Norman,
Three Oaks Homes' Chairman
A £30 million programme to refurbish around 2,000 former
council homes has reached a major milestone ahead of schedule.
Blaby resident Barbara Battison became the 1,000th customer of
the housing association Three Oaks Homes to benefit from an upgrade
of her home.
The housing association took ownership of around 2,200
properties from Blaby District Council with a pledge to upgrade
every home where a tenant wanted work carried out.
Now, just two years into the programme, close to half of the
homes have been upgraded - and the organisation is on track to
deliver on its promise a year ahead of schedule.
Barbara, who lives at Brook Court, is overjoyed with the work,
and very impressed with the amount of choice she had over the
finishing touches. "I really love it," she says. "Everything was
designed for me personally. There was so much choice over things
such as flooring, units and tiles in the kitchen and bathroom.
"I think it's fantastic, and if I had lived in my own property,
I probably wouldn't have been able to afford such a professional
and modern upgrade."
She's pleased the work only took two weeks from start to finish
and was impressed at how little disruption there was. For example,
when the bathroom was being refitted, the existing suite was
removed and a new one installed the very next day.
Colin Norman, Three Oaks Homes' Chairman, said: "We're delighted
with the progress of the improvement programme and that we've been
able to not only keep, but exceed the promises we made to tenants
on transfer."
To mark this milestone in the upgrade programme, there was a
celebratory lunch at Brook Court. Barbara was presented with a
bouquet of flowers from Three Oaks Homes, as well as champagne and
chocolates from housing refurbishment and regeneration specialist
Lovell and housing consultants Michael Dyson Associates.
Work on the housing improvement programme was carried out by
Lovell, whose regional director, Noel Adams, says: "It's rewarding
to have reached this significant stage in this major housing
upgrade programme for Three Oaks Homes, and we're delighted that
Barbara is so pleased with the work we have done at her home. Our
team would like to thank her and all the residents for their
cooperation and help during the upgrade programme."