A HOUSING association has come under fire for putting three-bedroom social rental properties up for sale on the open market in west Dorset.

Magna Housing Association revealed it is currently trying to sell 16 properties by March in order to fund house-building projects over the next four years. Magna said it is not yet known where the new homes will be built.

The properties, previously available for rental by families on the housing register, include a three-bedroom house on Allington Mead in Bridport, as well as another for sale in Chideock.

Two other former social properties have been sold in Beaminster, while others are on the market in Weymouth, Sherborne, Dorchester and Yeovil.

In October 2016, the News revealed that 1,331 people had applied to the west Dorset housing register - while 283 families from Bridport were in need of housing, according to the neighbourhood plan housing needs assessment.

Cllr Ros Kayes said it was “not acceptable” for Magna to be selling sought-after homes on the open market.

She said: “I’m extremely concerned that this is happening when we have a huge housing register waiting list.

“This is not an acceptable thing for Magna to be doing. I understand that government cuts to rents has affected Magna’s revenue, but they have adequate reserves to cover the losses.

“Social housing is so difficult to obtain at the moment. Local people are struggling in inadequate circumstances. It’s criminal to take advantage of the right to see these homes on the open market, instead of using them for the purpose for which they were built.”

Yogesh Vadgama, head of asset management at Magna Housing Association, said: “The money from these sales will help to pay for our new build development programme of 600 new homes by March 2021.

“In 2015 the government told all housing associations that we have to cut our rents by one per cent each year for the next four years. So we have to find a way of making up the money we are losing.

“We use our resources wisely and carefully, giving the best value for money we can. We have chosen to make up the money we need by selling properties and only cutting our costs where it doesn’t affect our services.

“Our purpose is to help people meet their housing needs so we do our best to make sure that the open market sales are not in areas where there are few socially rented homes and we do this in consultation with local authorities.”

The district council, which transferred its housing stock to Magna in 1993, said that more needs to be done to provide affordable housing.

Cllr Tim Yarker, the district council’s executive portfolio holder for housing, said: “Housing associations are independent organisations that the council work closely with in order to deliver homes that communities want.

“We make every effort to enable as many new homes to be built as possible. Unfortunately there has been an imbalance between the supply and demand for affordable housing in this area.

“Although affordable housing has increased in recent years, we recognise that additional work needs to be done to make more available for local residents. The council is putting plans in place to make this happen.”