Danny Thorpe, leader of Greenwich council: Council housing will be front and centre our plans going forward

The first few years of my life were spent on the Ferrier and Page Estates and I saw first-hand how investment and commitment from the council transformed homes in these areas and, in turn, transformed the lives of the people who lived on them.

That is why I am determined that we will start building council housing again, whilst at the same time ensuring our existing homes are well maintained and provide the safe, clean, secure place to live that our residents deserve.

To achieve this goal, we have just earmarked more than £92m to improve council homes and estates over the next two years.

Our spending programme includes £4m for fire safety measures, with £2m of that used to fund the replacement of fire doors. Another £5m will be spent carrying out electrical upgrades on 200 blocks and a further £5m will help to provide residents’ heating bills and combat “fuel poverty” through external wall insulation.

More than £1.7m has been allocated for communal heating system replacements and revamps with a further half million pounds being spent to replace individual boilers.

There will also be an ongoing borough wide programme of lift replacements, bathroom upgrades and estate improvements.

Communal areas on the Flowers Estate in Abbey Wood will benefit from £1.3m of improvements in response to residents’ concerns over the damage caused to the communal staircase area from anti-social behaviour.

I want to ensure that a long-term, sustained programme of investment in council homes continues to be a key feature of this council.