Harrogate Borough Council
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Modernising Homes and the Decent Home Standard
Work to modernise the Council's housing properties goes on throughout the year, replacing old and worn out equipment and carrying out proactive maintenance, which involves replacing, renewing or repairing parts of your home, before they become too old to work effectively, or deteriorate so much that they cause damage to the property.
The Government has set all Councils a target: to improve every house they own to meet the 'Decent Home Standard' by the year 2010. The main focus of all our modernisation activity is, therefore, to make sure we achieve this target.
A decent home is defined as one that is wind and weather tight, warm and has modern facilities and the Decent Home Standard uses four questions to measure these factors:
- Does it meet the current Statutory Minimum Standard for housing?
- Is it in a reasonable state of repair?
- Does it have reasonably modern facilities and services?
- Does it provide a reasonable degree of thermal comfort?
Over the next few years, up to the target date of 2010, we will be carrying out the following types of work to your homes, where it is required by the Decent Home Standard and has not been done already:
- Installing double glazed windows (most Council homes now have these)
- Installing draught-proofed, double glazed external doors
- Renewing the roof
- Improving heating systems and controls
- Modernising kitchens and bathrooms
- Updating electrical systems and fuse boards
- Improving the thermal Insulation in the loft and walls
Global Warming and Fuel Poverty
Two other important issues are shaping the way we plan to heat your homes in the future; global warming and the ever-increasing cost of fuel.
In 2005, we fitted eight properties with heating systems that use Renewable Energy. Renewable Energy sources are natural elements like the warmth and light of the sun, wind power or the warmth stored in the ground. Harrogate Borough Council is at the forefront of using technology that can harness and use these free sources of energy in your homes. Using this type of technology reduces:
- Heating costs
- Hot water costs
- The amount of carbon dioxide produced
- The use of costly fossil fuels
There are other issues that the Council is addressing, in addition to the Decent Home Standard; for instance, we are currently working through a programme to carry out improvements to Sheltered Housing schemes to make them more accessible, easy and safe to use by the residents and their visitors, in response to the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA).
Comments/Enquiries
Please use the online form below to make a Decent Home enquiry or comment.