"Major improvements" have been made to social housing in St Albans district, according to the council.

St Albans City & District Council made over £20 million worth of improvements prior to September 7, to the standard, energy efficiency and tenants’ experience of housing in the area.

The local authority is responsible for 4,900 social rent properties.

£18 million of work is being carried out to improve the energy efficiency of 914 homes, including the installation of insulation and solar panels. 

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This follows similar work at 181 properties.

A further £2.6 million of work has been undertaken to meet the Government’s decent home standard.

This has included improvements to kitchens, roofs, bathrooms, insulation and other features.

Of St Albans council's 4,900 social properties, 117 currently fall below the UK Government's decent home standard, this is down from 171 last year (2022).

"Innovative technology" has also been used to remotely record heat, damp and humidity levels following works to properties. 

This technology has been installed in 82 homes so far, with plans to expand to "many more".

According to the council, improvements have also been made to tenants' services, with more than 90 per cent of calls now being answered.

Cllr Jacqui Taylor said: "We are the biggest provider of social housing in St Albans District and are determined to achieve exacting standards in all areas for the benefit of our tenants.

“We set a programme of improvements for council homes and whilst recognising there is still much to do, this performance report shows we are on track to meeting the goals set in our Asset Management Strategy such as ensuring all our properties meet the Government’s quality mark, the decent homes standard.

“We are here to serve our tenants and want their experience of our services to be highly positive.

"In that regard, I am pleased to see that the vast majority of calls are now being answered promptly by both our housing team and repairs contractor.

"We know this hasn’t always been everyone’s experience.

“We’re also moving rapidly forward with the vital task of achieving carbon neutrality with hundreds of homes to be made more energy efficient in the next two years."