BURY'S council house tenants will benefit from a £27 million boost to bring their homes up to scratch.

The money is on its way after Six Town Housing, the arm's-length organisation that now runs the council's 8,500 houses, won a two-star rating from inspectors.

The Audit Commission said the organisation's housing management was 'good' with 'promising' prospects for improvement.

It means Bury will receive an initial £8.6 million of capital funding, with a further £18.42 million over the next five years if further improvements are made.

It will pay for new roofs, modern kitchens and bathrooms, and environmental schemes. Tenants will be consulted and work could start this spring. The idea is to bring all the housing stock up to the Government's decent homes standard' by 2010.

Six Town Housing (STH) was set up last April to take over the daily running of the houses, including repairs and rent collection, and is run by a combination of tenants, councillors and staff.

Politicians felt the move was necessary because an ALMO, unlike councils, can raise such large sums of money for home improvements. The two-star rating was essential to win the funding.

The commission praised the 'strong customer focus' at all levels in the organisation. Tenants and leaseholders are encouraged to become involved and influence services, it says, while the aids and adaptations service for disabled tenants is well-organised. Its performance on servicing gas appliances in tenants properties is strong.

Paul Clarke, lead housing inspector for the North West, said: "Six Town Housing has maintained a strong focus on improving the things that matter to customers, and there is good performance in some key areas.

"The organisation now needs to focus on maintaining and improving performance in those areas and on addressing some of the services that have lagged behind."

Councillor John Smith, chairman of Six Town Housing's board, said: "Our customers have seen real improvements in the way services are delivered.

"We are not, however, complacent and recognise that there is still much to do."