Affordable homes being delivered across Somerset will be given to people with a "local connection" to the county, Somerset Council has stressed.

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

Somerset Council has been working with housing developers to deliver more affordable homes across Somerset, as well as building new council houses in Taunton and Minehead and most recently agreeing to spend nearly £3.4m on temporary accommodation for Somerset families.

The council's executive committee has now reiterated that it is putting local people first when it comes to low-cost housing, rebuking speculation that people from outside the county or those arriving from outside the UK were being given preferential treatment.

Local resident Jan Windsor raised the issue when the council's executive committee met in Taunton on Wednesday (October 1).

She said: "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?"

Under the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996, refugees or asylum seekers do not automatically qualify for council housing – meaning they are not treated as more urgent cases that Somerset residents.

Contrary to speculation on social media, this means refugees or asylum seekers do not 'jump the queue' when properties become available.

Likewise, people who have recently moved to Somerset from a different part of the UK do not automatically get treated as a higher priority on the Homefinder Somerset system.

Councillor Sarah Wakefield, portfolio holder for adult services, housing and homelessness, replied to Ms Windsor by laying out the criteria by which a "local connection to Somerset" was assessed by the council's housing officers.

She 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 (e.g. 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 someone 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 Somerset, 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 (MAPPA) protocol. Both of these scheme make up small numbers."

A further discussion about temporary accommodation and affordable homes in Somerset is expected to take place when the council's adults and health scrutiny committee meets in Bridgwater on Thursday (October 9).

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