This part of the site tells you about the CGA's improvement programme and the investment promises we made to our tenants at transfer.

By 2010, the CGA plans to spend at least £80 million on repairs and modernisation, as well as beefing up the repairs service and developing new ways of involving tenants in its work. The association aims to keeping homes in good condition so that residents can live in safe, warm housing that will be fit for many years to come.

When homes transferred to the Community Gateway Association in 2005, the association made a list of promises to tenants. One of those promises was that all homes would be improved to meet a new, local standard called the Gateway Homes Standard by 2010.

To meet the Gateway Homes Standard, improved homes must:

• Be wind and water tight, with no damp problems
• Not have structural defects that affect their soundness, safety and stability
• Be easy and affordable to heat, with programmable and efficient heating and hot water systems, and be adequately ventilated to prevent condensation
• Have electrical systems that conform to current accepted safety standards with adequate provision of plug sockets and light fittings
• Have effective means of escape in case of fire and be resistant to the spread of fire, with appropriate fire detection and alarm systems fitted
• Have adequate sanitary fittings with bathing and/or shower facilities together with hygienic surfaces, a clean supply of drinking water and satisfactory drainage
• Have security measures to deter crime, both in the home and in the surrounding area
• Look pleasing to the eye and have design features that satisfy tenants' requirements
• Take into account people's disabilities in terms of design and access
• Have a modern kitchen with satisfactory cupboard/storage space, worktop areas and hygienic surfaces, with space for a range of white goods (such as washing machine, fridge/freezer, cooker) wherever possible
• Have garden areas appropriate to the type of home, with satisfactory approach paths, parking, clothes drying areas, fencing and gates.

Tenants were involved in drawing up the improvement programme for the CGA's first five years of operation. The tenant membership decided how works should be prioritised, and their views were given the go-ahead by the Gateway Tenant Committee and Board. This will make sure the CGA delivers its improvement promises.