The leader of England’s housing regulator has visited a number of projects in Halton.

Peter Marsh, Chief Executive of the Tenant Services Authority (TSA), took a tour of Halton Housing Trust schemes in Widnes and Runcorn.  

He was joined by two other members of his management team – Phil Morgan (Executive Director – Tenant  Services) and Graeme Foster (Assistant Director – Tenant  Services)

“It was a great opportunity for the Trust to showcase some of the work and customer focused projects we have been delivering,” said Nick Atkin, Chief Executive of Halton Housing Trust.

Mr Marsh visited a number of sites to see how the Trust was working with its customers to improve the borough, including a new development at Clarke Gardens in Widnes, which will see the construction on 12 two-bedroom apartments and six bungalows on the former brownfield site.

He was shown a property at Blackburne Avenue, Widnes, where the Trust had airlifted a special modular building (POD) – which acts as a temporary extension – onto the side of a family’s home to provide better facilities for a disabled boy.

Next Mr Marsh visited a property in Rose Street in Widnes where he saw the benefits of some of the Trust’s £85million programme of improvements. Thousands of new windows, boilers, bathrooms, kitchens and central heating systems have recently been installed in its properties as part of the work.

He was also invited to meet a group of Trust customers who had been working on the TSA-sponsored Local Standards Pilot scheme, aimed at developing improved ways in which people access affordable rented housing across the borough.

Peter Marsh said: “I enjoyed meeting and talking to tenants at Halton Housing Trust. 

“The breadth of work is clearly helping to transform lives and communities– improving heating and kitchens in existing homes, building much needed new homes and involving tenants in the design of local allocation standards.”

Nick added: “We are continually striving to improve the lives and the quality of services we provide to our customers.

“We are delighted that Peter and some of the other members of the TSA senior Team was able to see our efforts firsthand and what we are trying to achieve in Halton.”