A MASSIVE £6.8 million overhaul of York's council homes will be carried out next year.

More than 1,600 of City of York Council's 9,000 homes are set for improvements following a Government settlement described by the city's housing chiefs as "excellent." Among the plans are:

Fitting new windows to 630 homes

Providing central heating in 80 homes

Adapting more than 900 homes for disabled

residents

Modernising 485 homes through tenant's choice,

which allows residents a selection of options

including kitchen and bathroom renovations

Building 57 new affordable homes, in partnership

with housing associations.

John Hocking, City of York Council's assistant director of housing, said: "Each year the Government rates each authority, and we have been put in the top rating and are well above average.

"It is down to an excellent performance right across the board for housing, and that has certainly been taken into account when this settlement was decided.

The cash, an increase of £1.4 million on last year's settlement, is part of a £284 million hand-out for housing improvements to be shared across authorities in Yorkshire and Humberside.

A spokeswoman for Ryedale Housing Association, which runs the housing stock previously owned by Ryedale District Council, said it was not yet sure what its share of the settlement was.