‘Housing MOT’ will help officials in Yarmouth assess council homes

Contractors have been commissioned to assess the condition of various elements of each property, including the kitchen, bathroom, windows, doors, walls, roofing and heating system.

The borough council said the visual survey will provide a snapshot of the overall standard of homes, including sheltered housing, helping Great Yarmouth Community Housing, the council's housing department, to guide investment in ongoing improvement works over the next 30 years.

In the coming months, all tenants will receive a letter stating when the surveyors will be in their area. Tenants are asked to make arrangements to give the surveyors access, including to any loft space. The survey will last about 20 minutes and the surveyors will take photographs and potentially some measurements.

Cllr Penny Carpenter, chairman of the housing and neighbourhoods committee, and deputy council leader, said: 'The borough council is confident from previous, smaller-scale surveys that the condition of council housing in the borough is up to standard.

'The aim of this visual survey is to get a picture, taken within a relatively short timeframe, of the condition of the key elements of all properties– a sort of housing MoT – to help the borough council to plan its ongoing programme of improvements.

'Tenants are asked to give the surveyors access to enable them to carry out this important work. At the front door, the surveyors should be able to identify themselves as employees of the contractors and explain they are working on behalf of the council. However if you have any concerns, please contact your area housing office.

'It is important to remember they are stock condition surveyors, not repairs surveyors, so they are not able to programme in any works, give information about when work might happen, or take requests for repairs.'

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