High-rise flats given £4.6m makeover

Work is being carried out on the blocks in the Balby Bridge and Intake areas of Doncaster and includes new windows, doors, upgraded central heating and external cladding, which housing bosses said will make homes warmer and greener.

Shaftesbury House, Lonsdale House and Westminster House in Intake, and Methley House, Hatfield House, Firbeck House, Cusworth House and Sandbeck House in Balby Bridge are undergoing the improvement work under Doncaster Council’s Decent Homes programme.

St Leger Homes, a council-owned company which manages local authority housing, said work was “well underway” on some of the blocks, with the external cladding work recently starting in Intake.

The cladding work is due to start in Balby Bridge within the next few weeks.

It is hoped that, weather permitting, the work will be completed on both projects at the end of March next year.

St Leger Homes said it was working in partnership with contractors Henry Boot Construction on the Intake flats and Wates Living Space on the Balby Bridge high-rise blocks.

Coun Ray Mullis, Doncaster Council’s housing spokesman said: “This work will make a big improvement to the homes in the high rise flats.

“It will mean the flats will lose less heat, making them greener and more economical.”

Susan Jordan, chief executive of St Leger Homes said: “The replacement of windows and doors has already made a big difference to the tenants.

“Combined with the cladding work it will mean a huge reduction in energy needed to heat the homes. I am sure the tenants are feeling the benefits already.”