Housing Improvement Programme

Improvement works are upgrades we do to your home as part of the Housing Improvement Programme (HIP).

The next works programmes are being planned and will be tendered and contractors appointed from 2026 onwards. If you are due upgrades to your home in the HIP we will write to you well before the works start and let you know what will happen next, see Before council home upgrades.

The HIP is part of our 30-year business plan which allows us to plan for improving our council houses and flats. This planning helps us to meet statutory requirements such as the proposed Social Housing Net Zero Standard.

We must also do these works to meet our obligations to you, to safeguard the quality and safety of your home, and to meet those standards set by the Scottish Government. Please play your part and accept the improvements we need to do. This will help to make the HIP a success.

Types of improvement work

The main types of improvement works included in the HIP are upgrades to:

• kitchens
• bathrooms
• heating systems
• doors
• windows
• re-roofing
• dormers
• communal door entry

We can also carry out Internal Wall Insulation to those homes that need it, but only when they are unoccupied during a void period.

Tenant Guide to all upgrades

Our Tenant Guide: All upgrade works (PDF 1.64MB) provides you with information about the different types of upgrades and what will happen during the works.

Tenant satisfaction survey

Every month several tenants, who have works carried through the HIP, are randomly selected and asked to complete a phone survey by consultants IBP: Strategy and Research. The results will be published on this page, so please take part if you are asked to.

Find council home upgrades - Aberdeenshire Council

Find council home upgrades

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We have a database of records showing:

• details of all our houses and flats
• what facilities they currently have
• when we last renewed them

We record the estimated life expectancy of each part of your home in our database. We use this information, together with visits, to decide which houses and flats we need to upgrade and to plan when we will do the work.

The council is required to meet energy efficiency targets set by the Scottish Government. View energy efficiency in social housing opens in a new tab to find out more about current standards and when they must be met.

Find council home upgrades

You can search for what upgrades are planned for your home as part of the  Housing Improvement Programme. The search results are accurate at the beginning of a contract period, but they are not updated if any works are added or removed. Once the plans for additional upgrades in our HIP programme are finalised, we will update this information in the search function. If you can't find your home listed, it means that no upgrades are currently planned.

If you can't find your home listed, it means that no upgrades are currently planned.

 Your home

House Number

Postcode

Before council home upgrades - Aberdeenshire Council

Before council home upgrades

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We will write to you in good time before the start of the contract period in which your home is due for an upgrade. We will send you further information and ask you to look at our guide to all upgrades that tells you what’s involved and what you need to do. If, when you get our letter, you are worried about coping with the level of disturbance, please contact us immediately and ask for the Stock Condition Surveyor for your area.

We may be able to provide you with assistance and support to help you prepare your home for the works and manage during the works to minimise any disturbance to you.

We want you to live in a home to be proud of; a high-quality home that is energy efficient, healthy, safe & secure. This is only possible with your co-operation, and this is  why we do not want any tenant to refuse their upgrades.

The council’s Property Services are project managing the HIP for Housing and they will let you know the name of your contractor once they have appointed them. This main contractor, or their subcontractors will carry out the works while you remain in your home.

If you are due more than one upgrade then some, like windows and doors and kitchens and bathrooms, may be grouped together and done by the same contractor. However, other upgrades might be carried out by different contractors so, to complete all your upgrades, you may be contacted by more than one contractor.

Surveys and tenant choices

A survey will be needed of your home to find out exactly what work is required to complete the upgrade, and to prepare the necessary design drawings. The survey will be done by the council or the contractors. Please ask the surveyor for their identity card before letting them in. 

If you are getting a new kitchen, we will offer you a choice of worktops, kitchen units and vinyl floor coverings. If you are getting a new bathroom, we will offer you a choice of vinyl floor coverings and wall panelling. If you are getting a new door, you can choose from a range of different designs.

The surveyor will find out if you might benefit from being assessed by a Housing Occupational Therapist (OT) who can then advise if you need any adaptations as part of the upgrade. For example, if you have a disability or long-term medical condition, we may modify the design or layout to adapt the upgrades to your needs.

If you are not in at that time and the contractor is unable to do the survey, they will leave you a note asking you to contact them to make a new appointment. 

A different contractor may need to do an asbestos survey to make sure that your home complies with the current regulations. Doing this survey doesn’t necessarily mean that your home contains asbestos.

New electric meters

For some electric heating upgrades you may be told that you need to apply for a new electric meter. The tenant guide has more information. 

Please note that there could be a long wait to get your meter installed, and your supplied may charge you for the new meter. Your supplier will be able to advise you further when you apply. 

Zero Tolerance Policy

The council, and our contractors, are committed to a policy of Zero Tolerance of aggression towards our employees. Conversations and visits with you will be terminated if the employee, dealing with you, believes that you were acting in a manner that humiliated, frightened or made them or a colleague feel unsafe or vulnerable. We recognise that problems arise from only a small minority of individuals. Often situations arise for genuine reasons and these must be resolved quickly, professionally and sensitively for all concerned. Please help us by considering the feelings of the employees that are working with you or, unfortunately, it may not be possible for us to upgrade your home.

No Smoking Policy

In line with Scottish legislation that guarantees people a smoke free work environment we cannot expect our staff and contractors to work in the homes of service users, or in communal areas, where they are exposed to tobacco smoke. 

Although electronic cigarettes (vapes) are not covered by the legislation, they are considered the same as tobacco cigarettes in terms of Aberdeenshire Council’s Smoking Policy. It is currently unclear what the medium and long-term health impacts are on people who actively or passively inhale nicotine or non-nicotine vapour.

It is therefore asked that you, other household members and visitors do not smoke, or vape nicotine or non-nicotine e-liquids, while a member of our staff or contractors are present. We would also appreciate if your home could be smoke and vapour free prior to your planned visit, and that the area where our staff or contractors will be located is adequately ventilated. 

Should you not be able to provide this courtesy our staff or contractors have the right to leave your home. Thank you for your cooperation with this matter. 

During council home upgrades - Aberdeenshire Council

During council home upgrades

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To make sure your home improvements go smoothly for everyone:  

• What you need to do
• Assistance and support
• Claims against the contractor
• Tenant feedback

What you need to do

The contractor will tell you when they need to access your home to do the work. Please help us by:

• keeping any appointment they make with you
• giving access to them to do the work
• making sure that you and all members of your household, including children and any visitors, follow any instructions and advice that the contractor gives you including about any warning notices they put up in your home
• keeping all children and pets away from work areas, tools, machinery, site containers and work materials
• not smoking in work areas
• providing tenant feedback if we ask you to take part in a telephone survey

Health and safety

All our staff and contractors carry identity cards. Please check the identity of anyone entering your home. If you have any doubts about the identity of a person trying to enter your home, do not let them in and contact us for advice. 

Our staff and our contractors will never ask you to make any payment to them for any reason in connection with your planned upgrade works or to carry out a survey of your home. If you are asked to make a payment, please do not. Immediately contact us and report the incident to the police for investigation.

If there is a gas supply in your home, the contractor may need to turn this off, so there is no risk to you or them during the works. This safely measure can apply during any upgrade. You can be provided with temporary heaters for the time the gas is off.

Assistance and support

We can offer you assistance and support before, during and on completion of the improvement works:

• The contractor will employ a Tenant Liaison Officer (TLO) or site agent to assist with the upgrade process
• Our assistance package will offer extra support to tenants in greatest need, helping you to clear cupboards, pack, unpack and a ‘Handy Person’ service to help get your home straight again - each assistance package will be assessed individually, and a final decision taken once all the details of the particular case are known
• If you are not approved for the Assistance Package and you are having a new kitchen or a rewiring upgrade, the contractor can still offer you free packing boxes to help you pack up before the work starts
• A Housing Occupational Therapist (OT) can advise if you need any adaptations as part of the upgrade
• We can organise alternative accommodation if your special circumstances mean that you have to move out of your home temporarily 

If you want to speak to us to find out more about how this assistance and support could help you, please contact us and ask for the Stock Condition Surveyor for your area.

Claims against the contractor

All upgrades undertaken in your home will involve a level of disruption and disturbance and our contractors will always try to get things right but, there may be times when matters go wrong and you may have to make a claim against them. If this happens you must make any claim directly against the contractor concerned, by contacting their Tenant Liaison Officer, as the council is not responsible for the actions or activities of any contractor even if they are acting on our behalf. If you make any claim to us, we will refer this to the contractor concerned. In the event that no agreement is reached between yourself and the contractor, we may, after we have asked the contractor to explain the reasons why, advise you to pursue the claim through your own insurance or alternatively, seek independent legal advice as to what courses of action are then open to you.

Tenant feedback

It is important that you have the chance to provide feedback in relation to the work that we carry out to your home.

We may contact you by telephone on completion of the work to seek your views. It will be an independent research company that undertakes these telephone surveys. Your feedback will provide us with valuable information and enable us to continually improve the service we offer you.

You can also send feedback directly to our Feedback Team by email at feedback.team@aberdeenshire.gov.uk or by post to:

Feedback Team

Woodhill House

Westburn Road

Aberdeen

AB16 5GB