SUB-STANDARD housing in Enfield will be refurbished as planned following a successful bid for a Government grant.

Enfield Council has been given more than £58 million to tackle a backlog of improvements needed to upgrade its housing stock across the borough over the next four years.

The cash will help pay for windows to be double-glazed, modern bathrooms and kitchens and to address issues like central heating as part of the Decent Homes programme.

Councillor Ahmet Oykner, cabinet member for housing, welcomed the news, but expressed disappointment the funding had fallen short of the £68m the council had asked for.

He said: "Although we are disappointed that this funding falls short of the original bid by £10m, it does enable us to plan the programme of works.

"We will have to focus on the most urgent works since the funding is simply not available to achieve a full refurbishment in every property and we shall be working with tenants to prioritise what works can be done."

Local authorities across the country bid for funding but only 46 were successful including Enfield which has the second highest number of non-decent homes in the UK. Bids from 24 other council's were rejected including a submission from Barnet.

All three of Enfield's members of parliament – Nick de Bois, David Burrowes and Andy Love, backed the council's bid for funding and wrote to local government secretary Eric Pickles to plead the borough's case.

Mr de Bois, who represents Enfield North, said: "This is excellent news. The funding from central Government will have a huge impact on the quality of council homes for people in the borough."

The Conservative MP added that it was common practice for council's to bid for more than they needed and said the significant allocation of funding was a real success.