Repair work and upgrades will be carried out on thousands of homes after councillors gave the green light to a major improvements programme.

Enfield Council will pump £41 million into improving its housing stock in 2019-20 after the Government lifted borrowing limits that had been imposed on local authorities.

The work, which includes upgrades to heating, fire safety, insulation and wiring, will be carried out on council-owned housing throughout the borough.

Cabinet members approved the Major Works Programme at a meeting last week (Wednesday, February 13).

Council leader Cllr Nesil Caliskan welcomed the “huge investment into our housing stock”.

She said: “This will have an impact on something like 7,000 homes.

“When we talk about housing being one of our priorities, this is what we are talking about.

“Improving the quality of homes will have an impact on people’s day-to-day living, health and wellbeing and life chances.”

In 2012, the Government imposed a cap on borrowing through the Housing Revenue Account – a ringfenced pot of money used by councils to build and maintain housing.

This cap was lifted last year, allowing local authorities to borrow more money in a bid to tackle the country’s housing crisis.

The council has secured an £18 million grant from the Greater London Authority that will enable it to build affordable homes.

It is also using receipts from the sale of council homes under the Right to Buy scheme to fund improvements to its housing stock.

Cllr Ahmet Oykener, cabinet member for property and assets, said: “We have had years of neglect of the housing stock, basically because Government has taken money away from us – or threatened to take money away from us.

“We are now working on a strategy to improve it.”

A ‘housing MOT’ scheme is also being rolled out by the council to deal with repair work.

This will see dedicated teams of workers visiting social housing in the borough every year, recording faults and carrying out repairs.