New kitchens and bathrooms for hundreds of families

Swansea Council is making the multi-million pound investment in its housing stock to help reach the Welsh Housing Quality Standard by 2020.

In the last two financial years, 676 properties have benefited from new kitchens and bathrooms. A further 972 will have benefitted by the end of the financial year 2015/16, with many more properties due to benefit in future years.

Homes in the Waunarlwydd area have already been completed. Installations are now taking place in Penlan before workers move onto areas including Penfilla, Brondeg, Gendros, Bonymaen, Pentrechwyth, St Thomas and Port Tennant early summer next year.

Cllr David Hopkins, Swansea Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Housing, said: “This work is essential because good quality kitchens and bathrooms make such an important contribution to people’s health and well-being. By the end of the year, about 1,650 homes in Swansea will have benefitted from these improvements in recent times as we make even more progress in our drive to reach the Welsh Housing Quality Standard.

“The installation of new kitchens and bathrooms is one feature of a multi-million pound improvement programme, part-funded by the Welsh Government, that’s raising standards of living across Swansea. These works are combining to help tackle poverty and boost the appearance of communities as a whole.”

Other improvement schemes such as wind and weatherproofing projects are also currently taking place on council estates across the city. This includes the renewal of roof coverings and weatherboards, the provision of new insulated render to make properties warmer and the replacement of composite doors to make properties more secure. Internal renewal programmes are including the fitting of energy efficient boilers and the rewiring of properties to meet latest standards.

Work is also on-going to refurbish council-owned blocks of high-rise flats. Internal improvements include new kitchens, new bathrooms and rewiring. External works include new roofs, insulated wall cladding, glazed balcony panels and replacement windows.

Work on two blocks of flats at Matthew Street, which started in January, should be complete by March 2017. On-going improvements at three blocks of flats in Clyne Court are scheduled for completion in May 2017, with work on one block in Jeffrey’s Court earmarked to finish in the late spring of 2016.