COUNCILLORS warned of a growing housing crisis hitting Bridport as tenants face a cash squeeze.

Members of Bridport Town Council’s environment and social wellbeing committee want action to help local people as they face rises in rents and bills, and caps in housing benefit.

They hailed the success of Magna’s Dibdin View development at Flaxhayes but said more measures – such as community land trusts and a housing group – needed to be considered.

Committee chairman Ros Kayes said: “Rents in West Dorset and Bridport have been shown to be 35 per cent higher than the rest of the country.

“People are going to be struggling to pay their rents.

“It is a really significant issue.

“We need to see how we can help people through that sort of crisis.

“I have more people in the last six weeks than the past four years come to me about housing.

“People in the private sector can’t afford their rents.

“We have got to find a way for local people to stay in the area.”

Coun Kayes wants a mutual Community Land Trust network where different groups lend money to eachother to help meet the start up costs, such as legal and architect’s fees, to get schemes off the ground.

Other ideas included such organisations as agencies, housing associations, churches and council working in a group to address the issue although this may be possible through the Bridport Local Area Partnership.

Coun Martin Ray said: “If local people get evicted, who is going to move in?

“People from Birmingham, London or Surbiton may move in.

“They will radically change the area.”

Coun Anne-Marie Vincent said that local people were resentful of second home owners.

She added: “There are people who are born and bred in the area who can’t even rent or get on the social housing list.”

Councillors heard that tenants were already moving into the Diddin View development and all should be in over the next few weeks although some landscaping and roads were still being completed.