MEASURES are set to be taken to ensure that workers building the new Hinkley Point nuclear power station don’t snap up rented accommodation at the expense of vulnerable local people.

The move comes amid fears that around 3,700 people will look to rent in the areas covered by Taunton Deane, West Somerset and South Somerset District Councils during the construction of the EDF project.

The three authorities are in talks about forming a lettings agency to prevent mass homelessness if the private rented stock dries up.

Figures suggest there are 25,000 private rented properties in the three patches, with 6,428 in the Deane, and 9,371 applicants on the housing waiting list, 3,685 of whom are in the Taunton and Wellington area.

But a report compiled by Taunton Deane Council outlines concerns about the influx of workers once the eight-year building scheme starts at Hinkley Point.

The report said: “One of the growing concerns is the competition that will be generated for so few available bed spaces.

“It was felt that it would be easier to take an employee from EDF and be guaranteed a higher level of rental income compared to the Local Housing Allowance levels.”

The three-council project aims to secure 2,200 bed spaces in the private rented sector by next March.