Covid-19 pandemic may cause some delays to council housing improvements in Nairnshire, Highland Council warns residents after approving £789,000 programme of works for Nairnshire

HUNDREDS of thousands of pounds are to be spent improving council housing in Nairnshire – but residents have been warned that there may be Covid-related delays to some of the work.

Councillors on the Nairnshire Area Committee have agreed a £789,000 investment in council housing for the 2021-22 financial year.

It is part of a wider capital programme which will see more than £15 million spent improving council housing across the Highlands as a whole.

Priorities for the cash include improvements to heating and energy efficiency in the homes, although the money will also be used to replace kitchens and bathrooms, as well as repair roofing and chimneys, among others. Some £73,000 of the cash will also be used to fund equipment or adaptations to assist those tenants who need extra support.

However, the report before the councillors also warned that the current year's improvement works had been "inevitably delayed" due to the effects of the global coronavirus pandemic.

And it warned that, while these will be completed, their disruption may caused knock-on delays in delivering the 2021-22 programme.Meanwhile, welcoming the latest confirmed investment, committee chairman Cllr Tom Heggie, said: “Priorities have been identified for the Nairnshire area at a local level, with the projects defined within the programme aimed at meeting the locally identified priorities.

“The proposed Nairnshire HRA Capital Programme for 2021-2022 also reflects the strategic commitment towards increased spend on heating/energy efficiency measures to assist with improving the energy efficiency of the housing stock.”

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