The housing association in charge of a problem-ridden development has offered to buy back dozens of properties after the latest calls for demolition.

Residents have been plagued with issues at Orchard Village, Rainham, over the last two years with hundreds coming forward with a variety of complaints.

The Clarion housing group, Britain’s largest housing association, has now admitted the situation was “unacceptable” and has agreed to buy back 58 of the 387 homes.

Clarion took over the estate two months ago when it bought the original property developer Circle Homes.

Orchard Village replaced the Mardyke housing estate in 2014 and was built with the aid of £31m of public money.

In December, the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) found Circle Housing breached consumer standards and risked serious detriment to thousands of its tenants in east London.

Cllr Phil Martin, of UKIP, last month made calls for the housing estate to be demolished.

He said: “Residents’ lives have been blighted by the sub-standard building work that has taken place,

“The only solution is its demolition and complete reconstruction.”

The Rainham housing estate has been beset with problems with resident complaints including raw sewage, mice, and gas leaks.

The Recorder previously reported that a Freedom of Information request revealed gas membranes fitted to the foundations of the buildings were damaged.

A spokeswoman for Clarion said: “We are committed to providing the quality homes that all residents were originally promised – tenants, shared-owners and freeholders.

“However, due to the issues they have experienced we have agreed in principle to buy back shared-ownership and freeholder properties.

“This is a complex situation so a specialist project team is working through the detail and we will update residents shortly on the next steps.”