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Record house repair programme for Newbury
 Newbury’s biggest landlord has revealed it intends to spend a record £19m on repairing homes this year. Sovereign Housing Association has revealed that around 40% of income in the year to March was spent on new kitchens and bathrooms, loft insulation and servicing boilers. And another £1m has been added to this year’s programme to raise living standards in and around West Berkshire still further. Sovereign’s team of tradespeople completed more than 600 jobs a week last year – from mending leaky taps to checking smoke alarms – according to accounts published this week. Managing director Paul Crawford said: “Seven out of eight of our homes already pass the government’s decent homes test, and with this £19m fund, we are well on track to making sure every Sovereign house will have a modern kitchen and bathroom, plus loft insulation to keep energy bills down, by 2010. By using resident feedback to improve our services, satisfaction ratings have gone up to 89%, and Sovereign is now rated one of the best-run housing associations in the country. Aside from repairs, the Bartholomew-Street based charitable organisation handed the keys over on 108 new rented homes in and around Newbury, as part of a £45m building programme for affordable homes. Over the year, Sovereign received 500 compliments and 378 complaints. Antisocial behaviour on some estates remains a hot topic, and seven residents were evicted for nuisance behaviour. Meanwhile, Violet Hill of Newbury won the Neighbour from Heaven award for coming to her neighbour’s rescue time and time again, confirming that a great community spirit exists on many estates. Copies of Sovereign’s annual report will be posted to all its residents during October and can also be downloaded from the Annual reports and accounts page. Published 12 October 2005 |
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 ©2008 Sovereign Housing Association Limited (charitable). All rights reserved. |
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