Work has started to revamp more than 130 prefabricated homes built as a quick-fix solution to Oxford's post-war housing crisis.

Residents in Barton have welcomed the start of the £2m scheme to refurbish their 1940s houses.

The 131 city council-owned British Iron and Steel Federation (BISF) homes on the estate will get new roofs, new external cladding and guttering.

The homes, which were only meant to last 40 years, will also get new glass reinforced porches and wall insulation.

Barton resident Hilda Barney has lived in her three-bedroom semi in Edgecombe Road for 44 years.

The 82-year-old, whose home is due to be refurbished at the end of January, was one of a group of residents who travelled to Bristol to see the results of a similar scheme last year.

She said: "I am not looking forward to having scaffolding all around my house but I am looking forward to them looking really nice after all these years.

"We are getting a new complete outside added on and new roofs. It will make the house look really smart.

"The outside has been painted on different occasions but the paint doesn't hold very long - the weather wears it off.

"They look very untidy and not really nice from the outside. This will be the biggest refurbishment since I have been here."

Work started on some of the houses in Bassett Road last month.

Next in line for refurbishment are homes in Bayswater Road, Edgecombe Road, Waynflete Road, Cranley Road, Humfrey Road and Malford Road.

Mrs Barney said: "They look really different. They are not finished yet but they look really nice.

"I was really excited to think we were going to get ours done like that.

"Everybody was talking about them needing painting anyway. They are so untidy now with paint hanging off them. The porches are rusty.

"Coming into Barton it will make a whole difference to the look of the entrance into the estate. To anybody coming into the estate it will be their first impression."

Oxford City Council decided to overhaul the properties because they are still structurally sound after 60 years of service.

Patrick Murray, the city council's housing portfolio holder and ward councillor for Barton, said no one would have to move out of their homes for the work to be done.

He said: "The houses will get new external cladding, new roofs and some insulation as well so they are more energy efficient and to give them a face-lift.

"Hopefully it should brighten up the area and make them a bit nicer for people to live in. I am really happy that we are able to do this. It does make a big difference.

"It will make the houses look nicer and be better to live in.

"I think things have been improving for several years now in Barton and it's part of that overall picture - changing the image of it."

The work is due to be completed by the end of 2008.