8,644 on waiting list for a Walsall home

There are currently a total of 8,644 people waiting to move into social housing, with the the body selling off more than 350 properties since 2013 under the government's Right To Buy scheme and through the sale of properties voluntarily - primarily due to the condition of the property and the level of investment required to bring them back into occupation.

The figures have been called 'very worrying' by a councillor who also claims that the 237 new homes built by the housing association since 2013 'hardly scratches the surface'.

Councillor Pete Smith, who represents the Blakenall Ward, said: "It is a very worrying situation where thousands of individuals and families who feel that they are presently inadequately housed are filling up WHG's waiting list.

"Whilst new WHG properties are being built at affordable rents in my ward in the Goscote, Harden and Ryecroft areas, the number of new builds is all the time being offset by the sale of homes by WHG.

"The new build in these areas are well underway and most welcomed.

"WHG are doing a very good job there, however this is only beginning to scratch the surface when one considers that nearly 9,000 are on their housing waiting lists.

"With regard to WHG auctioning off properties in need of a great deal of money needing to be spent on them, it begs the question as to how they can let a minority of their properties deteriorate to such a level."

In September 2015, bosses at WHG made a pledge to continue to build more social housing, despite concerns that Government cuts could have an adverse affect on the groups ability to do so.

A senior figure said that the group is committed to building 2,000 new homes by March 2018.

Explaining the circumstances that have led to the high waiting list figures, Robert Gilham, director of operations at Walsall Housing Group, said: "Walsall Housing Group was established following a stock transfer from Walsall Council. As part of the transfer arrangements, all transferring tenants were given the contractual Right to Buy in perpetuity - this means that we currently have over 9,000 tenants with an existing Right to Buy.

"In the last three years, 310 of our existing tenants have used their Right to Buy to purchase their existing homes under the Government's Right to Buy discount arrangements.

"WHG has a stock investment strategy which is designed to ensure that when tenants leave, the property is reviewed and if it requires substantial modernisation works, a value for money assessment is carried out. In each of these cases it was not economical to carry out the works required given the relatively low rents we are then able to set.

"The monies raised from the sale of these properties is recycled into new development. In the last three years, whg has sold 49 properties under these circumstances.

"Like most urban authorities, access to the ownership market has become more challenging and we have seen rents rising in the private rental market. These conditions have caused further pressure on the waiting lists of social landlords like WHG."