ELDERLY residents in Skipton are among those whose homes will be warmer and more affordable following a huge council housing restoration project.

Members of Craven District Council's health and housing committee gave the go-ahead to the plans this week.

It will spend a total of £777,000 from April on upgrading 60 houses and bungalows throughout Craven including 22 on Princes Drive, Skipton.

The villages of Threshfield, Embsay, Glusburn, Cononley and Farnhill will also see a share of this investment.

And all the 60 homes are to be rewired, have new heating systems installed and replacement bathrooms and kitchens put in.

The project is part of a £1.5 million, two phase district-wide scheme to improve the homes, which include bungalows in Skipton built back in the mid-1960s.

They are now in need of modernisation to bring them up to current standards.

Housing deputy chairman, Polly English, said: "The basic aim of the programme is to ensure all our houses are kept up to date and safe as far as electrical wiring is concerned.

"Also we want to try and maintain the fabric of the buildings and ensure the tenants are kept warm and that we give a good quality of life to the tenants. As good landlords we want to maintain the lifestyle of our tenants."

Many of the bungalows on Princes Drive have already been modernised by the council last year but this new programme will start in April.

Marjorie Leeson, 74, is one of the residents who has already had her bungalow modernised.

She said: "I have lived here three years in May and they finished work on my bungalow just before Christmas.

"The heating is much better now we have got full gas central heating -before it was underneath the floor. They have also put more alarm buttons in each room and new smoke alarms, so I feel a lot safer. It has definitely been worth it."

Audrey Ives, 66, who has lived on Princes Drive for six years, is one of the residents who are due to have their bungalows modernised.

She is over the moon with the proposals and said she cannot wait to have the work done.

Audrey said: "I'm really looking forward to the date they start work. I've been looking at some of the other bungalows which have been modernised and I'm really pleased with the results.

"I think installing showers is a good idea and my kitchen definitely needs altering.

"It will be a lot better with fitted units and a new sink because it is really old fashioned as it is."

There will be an opportunity for tenants to ask for the work to be put on hold at the discretion of the housing manager.

Coun English added: "Sometimes we have difficulty with elderly tenants not wanting the work done and not wanting the upset.

"We are trying to deal with that as sympathetically as possible, but we cannot say we will not re-wire and then risk something going wrong."

Picture shows Marjorie Leeson.

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