Therese Coffey concerned over homes sold in Aldeburgh

Suffolk Coastal MP Therese Coffey was speaking of her concerns that Flagship Housing Association had been selling vacant properties in Orford and Aldeburgh to second home owners, instead of bring them back up to 'lettable standards'.

She has secured a meeting with Housing Secretary Michael Gove to discuss the situation.

READ MORE: Town council's social housing fears as home hits the market for £350,000

Dr Coffey said: “This is a scandal and I want to make sure that housing that was originally given to housing associations stays for local people.

"Flagship try to suggest that they can’t repair houses economically, but they are not even offering them to the local council.

"There are restrictions and covenants that could be placed if these were council houses but not on housing association homes."

READ MORE: Council appeals for homes sales money to be spent on social housing

Concerns have been raised on an Aldeburgh Facebook community group that a former housing association property in the town, Craig Royston House in Victoria Road, was being advertised for sale through online estate agents Rightmove rather than being offered to local residents who urgently needed a home.

Aldeburgh mayor Kevin Webster has echoed the MP's comment that it was a 'scandal' that affordable homes were being sold off.

Suffolk Coastal MP Therese Coffey (Image: PA)

He said: "Aldeburgh Town Council wrote to Newtide Homes (Flagship) previously to convey our disappointment that they were disposing of Craig Royston House because of the history within the town but more importantly providing critical local homes.

READ MORE: Council's fears villagers are losing out on social housing

"We are saddened and worried by their proposals and we would like to see any money raised from the sale ploughed back into Aldeburgh and have requested they maintain other local homes so that this doesn’t happen again.

We thank Therese Coffey for raising this in Parliament."

However, a Flagship spokesman said: “At Flagship, our vision is to solve the housing crisis and to fulfil this, we must continue to build more homes, but also continue to improve the homes we offer.

READ MORE: Aldeburgh news

“One of the ways we do this is to review our empty homes to see if they are fit for purpose and sell some of the older, inefficient, or less suitable homes so that we can reinvest in new, replacement homes - which will help support tenants for the long term.

“Over the years, we have worked closely with councils and in the first instance, we will always offer the homes we sell to like-minded organisations, such as local authorities and particularly in smaller communities, parish councils.

"Last year, as a group, the homes we sold helped us to build 634 affordable homes across the region.

"Additionally, over the next two years, we will be providing 156 new homes in East Suffolk.

“Our new homes programme always ensures that we continue to provide significantly more new homes than we sell and that we can continue to provide our tenants with affordable, high-quality homes for generations to come.”