COUNCIL estates in Leigh will benefit from a share of a major £58 million investment to upgrade council housing. Tenants will also be given a chance to have their say on how the money is spent.

Wigan Council has been provisionally awarded the money to invest over a two-year period. The biggest ever boost to housing investment in the borough will be masterminded by ALMO -- an arms length management organisation with input from those who pay the rent.

Leigh's council estates are set to get a proportion of the planned £58.3 for projects such as upgrading insulation, roof repairs, new windows, and modernising kitchens and bathrooms. Wigan is one of eight councils to be provisionally awarded a cut of £300 million of Government cash set aside to improve the quality and management of council housing. Leigh MP Andy Burnham said: "With other local MPs, I have made the case for investment in better housing and we are thrilled that the Government has listened and acted."

Services to tenants could also be improved by more estate caretaking, extending neighbourhood watch schemes and tackling anti-social behaviour.

In Leigh and Wigan the ALMO will manage properties on a day-to-day basis, focusing on major improvements and repairs, but the council will keep ownership of the homes and strategic responsibility for housing. Tenants will remain tenants of the local authority.