A CONSIDERABLE amount of work is being done on affordable housing in west Dorset, the district council has said.

The issue was discussed at the West Dorset District Council executive committee following a petition calling for £9.7million to be spent on affordable housing.

The petition, signed by 400 west Dorset residents, was submitted by Claudia Sorin on behalf of Dorchester and District Labour Party.

It calls for WDDC to 'invest the same amount of money that is spent on the new council premises – £9.7million – on low cost housing in the area'.

The report asked members to 'note the views expressed in the petition prior to their deliberations on the future separate report considering once-off funding to support projects and schemes, including the potential use of reserves to support the provision of additional affordable housing'.

Cllr Tim Yarker said: "There is a considerable amount of work that we are doing on affordable housing.

"We have been working extremely hard on the Acceleration Home Building programme, looking at ensuring delivery of homes in a more rapid way, and the work continues.

"The relinquishing of the old offices allowed houses to be build in its lieu. This building has brought significant benefits which would not have been realised had we remained in the old offices."

Cllr Yarker also highlighted that new housing developments must include 35 per cent affordable homes if viable and that more than £3million has been received in funding from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) over five years.

Barry Thompson from the Dorchester and District Labour Party, who attended Tuesday's meeting, said it was "disappointing".

Speaking before the meeting, Mr Thompson has explained that there are more than 1,000 households on the waiting list for housing in west Dorset and that the petition shows that people living in west Dorset expect the council to do more to invest in decent affordable homes for its residents.

As reported, an assessment in 2014 indicated a need of 104 new homes in west Dorset each year and a combined total affordable housing need of 207 each year across the joint local plan area of west Dorset and Weymouth and Portland – out of the total housing need of 775 a year across the joint local plan area.

The Housing Strategy set a target of between 70 and 100 new affordable homes a year in west Dorset.

The average annual delivery of affordable housing over the last five years has been within this target range, at 88 per annum, though the rate each year has varied.

The petition will be considered by the committee at a later date at the same time as a proposal for one-off funding to support projects and schemes.