Tired housing stock in Stevenage will benefit from a �24.5m cash injection over the next four years after Stevenage Homes successfully bid for part of a dwindling pot of government cash.

The borough is one of only three towns in the east of England to be granted cash as part of the Decent Homes programme. Stevenage Homes will get the money over the next four years to bring council houses and flats up to scratch.

But Ann Webb, housing executive at the Labour-run Stevenage Borough Council, said the money was less than they had asked for and less up front, meaning some tenants would have to wait for improvements.

“We had originally asked for �28m, plus an additional �5m for structural repairs. The amount announced by the government is short of our original bid.

“Under the scheme run by the previous government, we would have got �33 million. However, we will be receiving a substantial percentage of what we asked for and the money will allow us to fund a healthy decent homes programme in Stevenage over the next four years.

“But, this year we will only receive half of the �11 million which we had expected, which means that many of our tenants who had been expecting their homes to be upgraded this year will be left disappointed.”