East Lothian Council is to spend over £20m improving Council houses, building new affordable homes and improving neighbourhoods across the county.

The programme of work will see the Council spend £1.5m on central heating upgrades, £1.25m on rewiring and £1.9m on kitchen replacements for existing tenants.

Over £8.3m has been dedicated to building new affordable housing, while £600,000 will be spent on house extensions to avoid overcrowding situations.

And it's not just Council tenants who will benefit from the plan. £150,000 will also be spent bringing mains gas to areas of Musselburgh,

Port Seton and Dunbar that are not currently covered by the network. £100,000 will be spent on new play areas across the county, while £500,000 of funding has been set aside for the Local Initiative Scheme.

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Under the scheme, local tenant groups can apply for up to £30,000 for projects that will have a positive impact in their community.

Cabinet member for Housing and Community Services, Councillor Stuart Currie said: "This is a significant investment that will make a difference for our tenants and our communities, and help to deliver more affordable houses for East Lothian.

"Improvements to play facilities and local areas, more money for the Community Alarm Service to support vulnerable people in their homes, and increased coverage of the mains gas network will bring benefits across the county."

Around 600 houses will have electrical rewiring work carried out, 600 kitchen replacements and approximately 250 bathroom replacements.

Councillor Currie added: "The co-ordination of our kitchen replacement and electrical rewiring programmes will minimise disruption for tenants and provide a more efficient way of working.

"Although we already achieve very high levels of customer satisfaction we're always looking for ways that we can improve our service, so I'm pleased to see this initiative coming forward."

(GK/JM)