Council on hunt for new tradespeople

Swansea Council is on the hunt for 12 plasterers, six bricklayers, six electricians and three scaffolders as it continues extensive work on upgrading its housing stock.The expert tradespeople are required to work on void properties, rewiring jobs and new kitchen and bathroom installations. Their role could also see them working on new build projects in future.

Swansea Council is investing over £270 million in its housing stock over the next five years to reach the Welsh Housing Quality Standard. The council has also recently taken on 13 new apprentice tradespeople who’ll start work in September.

Cllr David Hopkins, Swansea Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Housing, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for qualified tradesmen and women to work for the council at a time when we’re seeing a significant increase in the work we have to complete each year. The council is one of the largest employers in Swansea and these additional positions will hopefully help local people secure a job where they can make a real difference to the quality of our housing stock across the city.

“Good quality housing is vital to people’s health and well-being. The improvements programme our new recruits will be working on, part-funded by the Welsh Government, is set to improve the lives of our tenants, boost the appearance of communities and help tackle poverty.”

In the last two years, 377 properties have benefited from new kitchens and bathrooms. A further 972 will have benefitted by the end of 2015, with many more properties due to benefit in future.

Close to 2,000 properties have received external improvements in the last five years, ranging from wall insulation and re-cladding to new doors and new guttering. Over 875 properties are due to have similar improvements in the next three years. Work to upgrade blocks of high-rise flats across Swansea is also on-going.

Anyone interested in the vacancies is asked to submit their application by Monday August 31. Further details and application forms are available at http://www.swansea.gov.uk/jobs