HOMES built using innovative construction methods straight after the Second World War have been given a new lease of life.

A total of 35 houses constructed with steel frames in the late 1940s have received new roofs to help them serve tenants for many more years to come.

The homes, which became popular because of the space that the steel frame created, were a successful early example of a permanent house built using speedier construction methods.

Around 30,000 of the homes, often known as British Iron and Steel Federation, or BISF for short, houses were built across the country from 1946 onwards.

Homes in Clarke Terrace, Burnip Road and Webb Avenue in Murton together with those in Patrick Crescent, South Hetton and Ashbrooke Estate in Shotton Colliery have received new roofs.

Properties at Dahlia Crescent and Hazel Crescent in Easington have also benefited from the work.

As well as using steel in the frames of the building, the roof trusses are also steel.

This means that specialist materials and methods needed to be used for the replacement roofs, which were last changed in the 1970s.

Believe Housing’s investment programme manager Stephen Brown said: “These homes were really innovative in the 1940s, they pioneered new methods of construction that helped create new and long-lasting homes much more quickly.

“This latest work should help them provide a good home for many more years to come.”

The housing group’s ten-year long home improvement programme is upgrading affordable housing in scores of communities stretching from rural Weardale to the coast.

The refurbishments are being carried out with specialist contractors ENGIE.

Andrew McIntosh, from ENGIE, said: “We’re pleased to be progressing this refurbishment programme with Believe Housing and supporting their ambition to future-proof and upgrade their estates, whilst also getting the opportunity to use our skills to improve homes that are so varied and unusual.”