DARLINGTON Borough Council is to retain ownership of its housing stock and borrow £20m to improve homes.

More than 85 cent of council tenants who took part in a borough-wide consultation programme launched last November said they wanted the authority to keep ownership of their homes, rather than it being transferred to another landlord or a consortium.

The consultation was part of a national initiative in which councils were asked to consider Government proposals for the future management of housing.

Residents were given a number of options for ownership of their homes and asked what type of council housing they would like to see in the future.

They said they wanted home improvements, including modern kitchens and bathrooms, better security, environmental improvements, off-street parking and fencing and paving programmes.

Tenants also named re-modelling and upgrading blocks of flats and sheltered housing schemes, more adaptations for disabled people and tackling anti-social behaviour as priorities.

As a result of the consultation, the council has decided to retain its stock of 6,200 properties and will finance the home improvements through extra borrowing of up to £20m.

Bill Dixon, the council's cabinet member for housing, said: "More than 85 per cent of those people questioned wanted the council to retain ownership of the housing stock. It's pleasing because we have worked hard, with tenants, for many years to ensure that our housing management has resulted in good quality homes and that is what we now have.

"We want to give all of our tenants the opportunity to have a say about their housing. We will now be setting up new consultation bodies, including a new tenants' panel for council house tenants."