COUNCIL bosses are to survey the condition of every one of the authority’s 7,400 council homes so they can prioritise a programme of repairs.

The council says it regularly invest £10 million a year in modernising the homes.

A council spokesperson said the results of the survey would be used to ‘understand which of our homes will need reroofing, for example, or need new doors’.

“It will help develop efficient programmes of work, and in addition, it will be used to as evidence for funding applications to help support greater levels of investment,” the spokesperson said.

“By knowing more about the condition and fittings in residents’ homes, they can be repaired more promptly and efficiently. Any major health and safety issues that are identified will be addressed straight away.”

Details of the survey have been announced as one young mum who is six months pregnant said she had been battling problems with black mould in her council flat for four years.

Billiejo Elmer, 23, of Gilbert House in Heworth, said she’d contacted the city council about on-going damp and black mould problems in the two-bed council flat where she lives with her six-year-old daughter, Lacey-May.

The council said it was unable to comment on individual cases. But Michael Jones, the authority’s head of housing delivery and asset management, said: “Mould can be a common issue in many homes involving a number of factors. When issues are reported, we work with residents to remedy it as soon as possible.”

Announcing the start of the comprehensive new housing ‘stock condition survey’ Cllr Michael Pavlovic, the authority’s executive member for housing, said: “All residents have a right to live in good quality, well-maintained homes.

“This survey is part of our commitment to upgrading our existing homes and was agreed as part of our emergency budget in July.

“York’s council homes have been built over the past 100 years in many different styles and use a range of construction methods. All the information we gather from this survey, will be used to plan how a comprehensive programme which details how the homes can be modernised.

“This is the first time we have surveyed all of our housing stock in one project and is a major exercise, which requires access to every home.

"We want to thank our customers in advance for their support with this work and allowing access to their homes for the surveyors. It will all help us improve the way we work and, ultimately, the quality of the homes we provide.”

Cllr Darryl Smalley, the opposition Lib Dem housing spokesperson, said: “It is positive that the council is continuing with the annual investment programme for the existing council house stock and we are pleased that all existing council houses will be surveyed for these improvements. This is a continuation for the £17.815 million we put into the budget last year.”