7,000 Gentoo homes across Sunderland to benefit from £39.4million improvement scheme including new roofs, windows, kitchens and bathrooms

Gentoo has revealed on Monday, April 4, that 7,000 properties across Sunderland are going to benefit from home improvements ranging from roof replacements to bathroom renewals.

The 2022-23 investment plan will also see the continuation of work to replace all single glazed windows in 1,900 Gentoo properties across Thorney Close and Washington.

Home improvement work has already begun and will continue right across the city with the director of asset and sustainability at Gentoo Group, Marc Edwards, explaining how tenants will benefit.

He said: “We hope that we can provide good quality homes for our tenants, these improvements will of course see new components installed.

"Replacements will include roofs, painting, decorations, new kitchens, new bathrooms and where required, energy and heating upgrades.

"We’re also working with the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund to do £3.4million of energy efficiency upgrades across the city.

"Works will also include things like loft insulation top ups to try and help improve the thermal efficiency of people’s homes.”

The full list of home improvements that will take place during the investment programme includes:

*Painting to the outside of properties

*Window replacements

*Roof replacements

*Kitchen and bathroom replacements

*Electrical rewires

*Canopy renewals

*Garage improvements and demolitions

*Energy upgrades including loft insulation

*Installations of fire safety equipment to high rise blocks

*Replacing the district heating in Washington

*Communal boiler replacements at Lakeside Village

*Fire alarm replacements

*Chimney repair works

Gentoo is also aiming to improve the energy efficiency of its properties by installing improved loft insulation in an effort to shield tenants from rising energy costs and lift the EPC rating of its properties to band C.

The latest announcement follows the unveiling of a £19million investment that will see 1,100 properties benefit from whole-house improvements over the next three years.

The scheme averages over £17,000 per property and the first 250 homes will be completed this year when starts gets underway in October.

If you are a Gentoo tenant and your home is part of the schemes, you will be contacted directly by Gentoo and its contracting partners – for more details on what is happening and where, click here.

Support your Echo and become a subscriber today.

Enjoy unlimited access to all of our news and sport, see fewer ads, experience faster load times, test your brain with daily puzzles and get access to exclusive newsletters.

Your support for our journalism means we can continue telling Sunderland’s stories for generations to come. Click here to subscribe - and click here to get a snapshot of the Echo’s news and sport to your inbox through our email newsletters.