PROPOSALS to meet Dorset's housing problems should be available in the autumn.

Dorset Council's new Lib Dem administration says housing will be one of its priorities with around 6,000 households on the Housing Register.

It intends to work on possible solutions over the summer, presenting its ideas in the autumn.

Portfolio holder, Chickerell councillor Gill Taylor, says that when dentists and GPs say they cannot afford to live in the county something urgent has to be done.

She told the new council's first Cabinet meeting that the authority's housing team had been making good progress in reducing the need to use bed and breakfast as a short-term fix and on June 6 there were 21 families in b&b.

"Our overall numbers of people in bed and breakfast has reduced over the past year, against the national trend, and I am committed to build on this strong work to prevent homelessness as well as finding and providing homes for those who need them," said Cllr Taylor in response to a question from Portland Labour councillor Paul Kimber about the urgency of the need for many local people.

Cllr Taylor said that around 25,000 homes in Dorset were provided mainly by housing associations or other registered providers.

"Dorset Council teams work closely with them to support and enable many hundreds of new homes provided each year. However, as a Council and Housing Authority, we recognise that the demand for housing that is affordable for our residents, both to rent and buy, far outstrips supply. We are working up our plans setting out how we intend to accelerate and deliver on the actions outlined in the Housing Strategy. This work is already exploring all feasible and cost-effective ways to increase access to housing and how Dorset Council will act, enable or influence gaps in housing supply. Whilst it is too early in the project to present recommendations, we are working to provide some initial options in the Autumn," she said.

The Portfolio holder said that she hoped that Dorset councillors on planning committees would only turn down applications for new housing in extreme circumstances.

"When you have doctors and dentists who can't afford to live here that is not acceptable – we have to make a difference as a council," she said.