A HOUSING association is celebrating work to ensure that its homes on the Isle of Dogs meet or exceed the government’s Decent Homes standard.

One Housing Group is spending �40 million on refurbishment of its 2,000 homes on the Isle of Dogs.

All social rented homes in the country were supposed to be brought up to the government’s benchmark by 2010. Homes which meet the standard should be wind and weather tight, warm and with modern facilities.

Taking place over five years, the first stage of the refurbishment included fitting new kitchens, bathrooms and boilers and upgrading electrics across all rented homes on the Barkantine, Kingsbridge, Samuda and St John’s estates.

External work involving repairs to roofs, external walls and windows is due to be in March and landscaping work is due to be carried out in the spring.

Catherine Kyne, managing director of Island Homes, which is part of One Housing said: “We are delighted to have met the Decent Homes Standard across all our general needs homes on the Isle of Dogs.

“We know that refurbishment programmes can cause inconvenience and we would like to thank all our residents for bearing with us throughout the works.

“With demand for high quality affordable housing in the borough at an all time high, we are committed to investing in our existing homes as well as developing new properties within the borough.”