Hundreds of homes are set to undergo major upgrades as part of a multi-million pound programme of improvements.

Housing provider Jigsaw Homes Group will be making a number of external improvements to its homes across Tameside, starting with a £2m upgrade to Chartist House on Mount Street in Hyde.

Residents here will benefit from new windows and a new building façade with additional external wall insulation to make their homes safer and warmer.

Jigsaw Homes will also be providing new front doors to all of the 94 flats, with residents already selecting their preferred style of door.

It is all part of the group’s drive to not only future proof and improve the energy performance of its older buildings, but to continue to keep residents safe.

Part of the upgrade work also includes the installation of a new Evacuation Alert System. Similar to a fire alarm system, it is designed to help the fire service if there is ever a need to evacuate the building.

All this work will be done by specialist contractors Casey and is being carried out at the same time in an effort to keep disruption to a minimum.

The work is expected to start in January 2022 with the removal of the external wall insulation, followed by replacing this and 284 windows in April 2022.

Jigsaw has already held a ‘meet the contractor’ consultation event to talk to residents about this work, show the designs of how Chartist House will look, including samples of material being used, as well as to gather feedback.

Throughout the work, which is expected to be completed in December 2022, a dedicated customer care team including a liaison officer and a site manager will be on hand to help and provide residents with regular updates and support.

Gary Heaton, Operations Director of Asset Management at Jigsaw Homes Group, said: “This is going to be a busy, but exciting time as we look to make major improvements to some of our homes, in particular our older tower blocks that were designed and built in the 1960s.

“While these are still structurally in good shape, we want to improve the aesthetics of the building with a new modern façade to keep our residents safe and warm.

“As part of the work, we will be removing the existing external wall insulation system which is not an aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding system that was used at Grenfell. The replacement system includes a non-combustible, highly efficient mineral wool insulation which is not only in line with the current building regulations and guidance, but could even reduce fuel bills too.”

Alan Taylor, Operations Director at Casey, said: “We are pleased to be working in partnership with Jigsaw Homes to deliver the works to Chartist House. The scheme further reinforces our impressive portfolio of improvement works to high rise buildings.

“We are excited to transform the building and improve the lives of those living here and the surrounding communities though the social value commitments which we will carry out.”

This is the first in a number of planned improvements across Tameside and Jigsaw Homes will shortly be touch with residents about upgrades to their homes in the near future.

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