New kitchens are to be installed in 120 Ardoyne homes, in north Belfast, as part of £500,000 investment by the Housing Executive.

Tenants will be able to select their new kitchen units and work tops from a range of colours and finishes and as part of the scheme electrical and plumbing installations will also be upgraded, including the provision of new sockets, cooker hoods, new floor coverings and mechanical extract fans will also be provided.

The new kitchens are being installed under the Housing Executive's EGAN style approach to planned maintenance.

This means the contractor PK Murphy will be working more closely with tenants to ensure a higher quality service.

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A Tenant Liaison Officer has also been employed to work alongside the Housing Executive's Schemes Officers to deal with the whole process of consultation, improvement works and finishing touches.

Another aspect of the EGAN style scheme is that a 'show kitchen' will be completed before the main programme of work commences. This will give tenants the opportunity to see how the new kitchen will actually look in their home.

Housing Executive North Belfast District Manager, Sean McKenna, said: "The planned maintenance service remains one of the Housing Executive’s core functions as a landlord and it is important that we provide the best possible service that we can in terms of quality, efficiency, customer satisfaction and value for money.

"An EGAN contract requires high performance standards from the contractor, and this will be closely monitored," said Mr McKenna.

"In fact PK Murphy will be aiming for zero defects and, with the appointment of the Tenant Liaison Officer to work closely with Housing Executive staff and tenants, I am confident that this can be achieved."

(PR/JM)