AFFORDABLE homes being delivered across Somerset will go to people who have ‘local connections’ with the county, the unitary Somerset Council has stressed.

More than 12,000 people are currently on the county’s housing register, with some families housed in bed-and-breakfast accommodation until more permanent lodgings can be secured.

The council has been working with housing estate developers to deliver more affordable homes while also building new council houses in Minehead and Taunton.

It also recently agreed to spend nearly £3.4 million buying 15 properties which could be used for temporary accommodation for local families.

In the face of social media claims that migrants and others from outside Somerset could be allocated the new accommodation, the council has reiterated it is putting ‘local people’ first when it comes to low-cost housing.

The authority rebuked speculation that people from outside the county or those arriving from outside the UK were being given preferential treatment.

Council executive members were directly challenged on the issue by Somerset resident Jan Windsor at a meeting in Taunton.

Ms Windsor asked: “What percentage of affordable housing in Somerset is currently occupied by people who previously lived outside the county?

“Additionally, does Somerset Council have any formal arrangements with organisations from outside Somerset to allocate affordable housing to non-residents?

“If so, which organisations are involved?”

Ms Windsor was told contrary to speculation on social media, refugees or asylum seekers did not ‘jump the queue’ when properties became available.

She heard migrants and asylum seekers did not automatically qualify for council housing under the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996 so they were not treated as more urgent cases than Somerset residents.

Similarly, people recently moving to Somerset from elsewhere in the UK did not automatically receive any higher priority on the council’s Homefinder system.

Somerset housing and homelessness portfolio holder Cllr Sarah Wakefield explained the criteria by which a ‘local connection to Somerset’ was assessed by officers.

Cllr Wakefield said: “To join the housing register in Somerset, the applicant must have a local connection to Somerset.

“For example, the applicant must have lived in Somerset for at least the last two years, or three of the last five years, or have permanent employment in Somerset of over 16 hours per week, or have a close family member, eg, mother, father, brother, sister, who have lived in Somerset for at least five years and there is frequent contact, commitment, or dependency.

“Evidence is required in all these cases to join the register.

“There are a few exceptions, for example, if somebody was fleeing domestic violence, or Armed Forces veterans.

“We do not have data regarding all affordable housing in Somerset, while most social housing is let through Homefinder, not all of it is.

“We are part of two national schemes working closely with the police and probation services accepting referrals for people who are under the witness protection scheme or under the multi-agency public protection arrangements protocol.

“Both of these scheme make up small numbers.”