£6m contract for Wigan boiler replacement

The town hall is seeking tender bids for its £6m boiler replacement programme which will affect around 3,000 properties currently in use.

Over the next two to four years the authority is aiming to bring thousands of its 22,000 properties up to scratch but has confirmed that the 3,000 boiler replacements will not be extended to vacant properties in need of an update.

Marie Bintley, assistant director for growth and housing at Wigan Council, said: “We are investing in our homes across the borough to both maintain and upgrade bathrooms, roofs, fences, electrics and central heating systems.

“Our boiler replacement programme is part of our ongoing maintenance programme covering properties which are currently occupied.

“We’re replacing old and inefficient boilers with modern, energy efficient boilers which will keep our residents safe and warm in their homes. We have around 3,000 boilers to replace over the next four years which will bring all our properties up to date.”

Figures released by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government reveal that of all the dwelling stock owned by the local authority - including those already occupied, 415 were fitted with new boilers in 2016/7 and a further 500 planned boiler replacements were planned for 2017/18.

Out of the planned replacements and the replacements which have already been carried out - none of the previous equipment was classed as not meeting the current “standards”.

Replacement boilers between 2016 and 2017 cost the town hall £952,000 and as much as £11m was spent on bathroom improvements.

A total of 1,865 houses were “made decent” last year but just as many become non-decent at the same time and 5,010 houses received work to prevent them from deteriorating.

The contract, which has not yet been awarded, will initially be for two years with an optional extension of a further one year, then a further one year up to a total of four years.

Figures also showed that the council had planned to carry out insulation installations at 455 properties, the majority of which involve loft insulation.