Government honours city housing pledge

Manchester City Council has received government confirmation of more than £25m towards home improvements in Collyhurst and West Gorton.

Manchester was provisionally awarded £29.245m of Decent Homes funding over four years in February 2011 but only £3.6m was later confirmed with remainder promised for future years.

Since then the council has improved 213 homes with replacement windows and doors and new kitchens and bathrooms, more efficient boilers and better insulation.

The council will now move ahead with home improvements for Collyhurst residents beyond October 2012 when the current year's Decent Homes funding was due to run out. It means contractors will be able to stay on site and continue with the programme of upgrading the stock. It also means that the council can start to demolish recently emptied poor quality housing in the West Gorton area.

Cllr Jim Battle, deputy leader of Manchester City Council, said: "Securing this funding is great news for the area and we welcome the announcement and the Governments continued interest in what we're doing here."