What is a Decent Home?

“In order to be decent, a home should be warm, weatherproof and have reasonably modern facilities”.

The Government required all councils and social landlords to bring their properties up to Decent Homes Standard by the end of 2010. This would guarantee a minimum standard of living conditions for those in social housing.

The completion of Project Phoenix, the Trust’s investment programme in Southcourt, meant that all of our properties were Decent Homes compliant.

Working to our higher standard

When residents were considering the transfer of AVDC’s council homes to the Trust, one of our promises was that we would exceed the minimum standard of Decent Homes, as part of our £105 million, five-year investment programme.

The Trust’s higher standard would include, where needed:

• High quality fitted kitchens
• New modernised bathrooms
• High security double glazed doors
• Fully double glazed windows with uPVC frames
• New efficient central heating systems

What next for Decent Homes?

We believe our commitment to provide good quality homes is a key element in a thriving, sustainable community. It is important that, having completed Decent Homes standard to deadline, we continue to ensure that our properties remain compliant.

We are now embarking on a second phase of works, which will see us investing around £8 million a year ensuring that our properties remain Decent Homes compliant.