Kier has signed a ten-year contract with North Tyneside Council to repair and maintain its social housing stock and other council-owned property.The deal has a potential value of over £600m which could increase as the contract is extendable for a further five years. A workforce of 500 has transferred by TUPE to Kier managed from the council's existing Killingworth site at Harvey Combe.Work began on the contract today which includes improvements and repairs to 16,000 council homes and council owned buildings together with reactive and planned maintenance.'We look forward to working closely with North Tyneside Council and bringing added value as a leading provider of housing repairs and maintenance for the public sector,' said chief executive John Dodds.