Housing association Ateb has issued a warning to all home- hunters who have submitted a bid for one of the properties currently under construction at Neyland’s Isambard Gardens.

In an announcement issued earlier this week, bidders were alerted to the fact that they may have been sent an incomplete letter or may not have received the enclosed Urban Connection Evidence Form.

The deadline for submitting evidence is this Friday, September 30, which means that potential home-hunters have only three days in which to complete the forms.

The 33-property Isambard Gardens development is being carried out by Hale Construction and comprises eight one-bedroom bungalows, three bungalows for the elderly and 22 houses. These include a combination of two and four bedroomed properties.

The development is a much-needed means of supporting the current housing shortage which is affecting Pembrokeshire.

Latest figures released by the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation confirm that Pembrokeshire’s towns, including Pembroke Dock and Milford Haven, are currently in the top 20 per cent of the most deprived areas of Wales.

Meanwhile Pembrokeshire County Council Cllr Michelle Bateman, the cabinet member for housing operations, has confirmed that the demands on the county's social housing are 'extremely high'.

"The shortage of affordable private accommodation plus the demands on our social housing stock are leading to longer waiting times for accommodation, as well as significant shortages of suitable accommodation in people’s areas of choice to live," Cllr Michelle Bateman, Pembrokeshire’s cabinet member for housing operations, recently told the Western Telegraph.

She added that the authority currently operates a needs-led register where applicants are prioritised into gold, silver or bronze categories, according to their circumstances.

But with an increased demand to provide urgent temporary housing following changes to Welsh Government policy, the authority is now using its own stock as well as B&B and other private hostel arrangements to help tackle the housing shortage.