Jobs could be lost at a West Cumbrian housing association as its parent company tries to meet an expected £65 million drop in income.

Staff at Your Derwent & Solway, part of Your Housing Group, will face restructure consultations over the next 18 months.

It comes after the Government's decision to force social landlords to drop their rents.

A spokesman said: "Our consultations with staff around future structures has started and will run for the next 18 months with different teams being reviewed at different stages between then and now.

"This means that sadly, we will see colleagues leaving the organisation - again at different times within that 18 month period.

"This is a very difficult time for our staff but it is a process we need to go through and we are committed to doing it as sensitively as possible.

"The national housing crisis has placed the sector – and house building in general – right at the forefront of the Government’s priorities, we are facing more scrutiny as a registered provider and the one per cent rent reduction will impact on our business plan to the tune of £65m over five years.

"On top of that, other sources of funding are no longer available to us and so, if we don’t change our business and become more efficient, we won’t be able to continue to improve our services for residents and build more homes."

The spokesman added that the group was looking at every part of its business to make improvements and savings.