HALTON'S main provider of social housing has been given the thumbs-up by a watchdog organisation.

Halton Housing Trust received a green light in a traffic light-based assessment system by Government-led regulator The Housing Corporation.

The trust, which owns and manages about 6,100 houses in Halton, has embarked on a massive £129m investment programme over 10 years.

The move followed an internal report by the Trust which revealed major problems with the housing stock which was passed from the ownership of Halton Borough Council to the trust in December 2005.

But the improvement drive is now well under way.

The Government assessment measures the effectiveness of housing trusts' management in three key areas - whether the organisations are financially viable, well governed and managed.

Nick Aitkin, chief executive of Halton Housing Trust, said: 'We are absolutely delighted with the outcome from the Housing Corporation's assessment of the trust, especially when considering the scale of changes we have had to put into place in such a short period of time.

'This reflects the efforts made by the trust to lay the foundations for its future success.

'This result now means we can focus our efforts on what is really important to us - improving the quality of services to our customers and delivering our £129m investment programme.

'The report will assist us in delivering these improvements and provides us with some clear areas where we need to focus our energies.'

John Carleton, director (North) of The Housing Corporation, said: 'We are very pleased to announce that Halton Housing Trust has gained three green lights in its latest Housing Corporation Assessment.

'This demonstrates that they have successfully met or exceeded the standards set across three key performance areas needed to ensure the quality of the services they offer to the people of Halton.'