A HOUSING provider has secured Government funding for a £5.5m development programme.

Thanks to a grant from the Housing Corporation, which provides Government subsidies for the development of rented properties, the Durham Aged Mineworkers Homes Association can build 69 homes and renovate 200 existing ones over the next 12 months.

The properties will be in Peterlee, Thornley, Jarrow, Horden, Seaham and High Pittington, and will be suitable for pensioners.

News of the funding follows a programme to build 12 bungalows for older people in Southway, Peterlee, in a £663,000 partnership with Easington District Council.

The project is due for completion next month.

In another partnership with the same council, the association has started work on a £600,000 scheme to build 11 bungalows in St Chad's Square.

A further four schemes worth £3m, to provide 20 homes in the Blackhills Road area of Horden, 14 in Jarrow, 12 in Parkside, Seaham; and eight in High Pittington, will start in the coming months.

John Humble, director of the Durham Aged Mineworkers Homes Association, welcomed news of the grant.

"We are delighted to get such a strong allocation, for it allows us to maintain our century-old tradition of providing homes for those in greatest need," he said.

"Our new bungalows, which are acclaimed wherever we build them, will certainly enhance the areas where we plan to build, and in each case, our local authority partners have identified a need for them. They will be built to mobility standards, linked to the local council's warden control system, have Secure by Design accreditation from the local constabulary, and have high levels of energy efficiency."

In addition to the new builds, the association - which manages more than 1,500 homes in the region - is spending £656,000 on improving properties and £500,000 on repairs this year.

The work will include 27 bungalows being re-roofed, 60 having kitchens fitted and 112 receiving new bathrooms.

Mr Humble said: "Our development programme is vitally important to ensure a continued provision of properties for the increasing elderly population."