A housing association has hit back at comments made by Suffolk Coastal MP, Therese Coffey, over the sale of social housing to second-home owners.

Speaking in Parliament yesterday, Ms Coffey raised concerns over the local housing association group, Flagship, selling affordable homes in coastal towns to second-home buyers.

She said: "That is a scandal. It [Flagship] tries to suggest that it is because it cannot repair them economically, but it is not offering them, first of all, to the local council.

"There are restrictions and covenants that could be put in place if these were council houses, but they are not; they are housing association homes."

Ms Coffey went on to invite Housing Minister, Michael Gove, to discuss ways to make sure housing association homes remain for local people, which he accepted.

A spokesperson for Flagship said that the group sells affordable houses to second-home owners in cases where the property is old and inefficient in order to reinvest that money into building more homes.

The spokesperson explained: "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.

"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."

Cllr David Beavan, East Suffolk's cabinet member for housing, confirmed there had been singular incidents of Flagship not following the protocol of bringing houses the group is intending to sell to the council first, but that those matters had been since resolved.

He also shared some of the concerns Ms Coffey raised, as new affordable housing tends to be built further inland in towns such as Leiston, leading to overall higher rents and meaning not only first-time buyers get pushed out of coastal towns but also local families.

Nevertheless, Cllr Beavan praised Flagship for its continued work in the provision of social housing, which has seen 634 new homes across the region last year and 156 planned for East Suffolk over the next two years.

He said: "What worries me is that they are just like us and are really hammered with high interest rates and build costs.

"It makes sense for them to sell a house to a second-home owner and then build two more.

"What we have to try to do is keep social housing in our coastal towns and rural villages and as a council, we will do our best to have that balance.

"I don't want to see all the rich people living in Southwold and Aldeburgh, and all the poor people living in Leiston and Felixtowe."

Cllr Beavan said Flagship had been key in tackling the housing shortage at a time when the district council is looking at a net loss of 24 affordable homes over the next three years.

He also revealed 118 households are currently in temporary accommodation, the majority of which are families, with the average wait time increasing due to the lack of homes, costing the council £400,000 in B&Bs alone.

The spokesperson for Flagship also said the group would continue to work closely with councils and continue to provide residents with affordable, high-quality homes.

In the meantime, Cllr Bevan revealed he was currently preparing a business case to borrow some money for the building of new affordable homes.