Former servicemen are furious over plans to start commercially letting homes on a Morden housing estate exclusive to ex-soliders.

Properties earmarked for the future use of soldiers undergoing rehabilitation from injuries sustained in Iraq and Afghanistan are being cleaned and repaired before being rented out privately.

According to Haig Homes, the properties are still reserved for soldiers undergoing treatment at Headley Court military hospital in Epsom and are only being let on a short-term basis.

But chairman of the Haig Homes residents association, Paul McDonnell, said: "It's a shambles. I find it disgusting that they're cleaning and refurbishing the properties so that they can rent them commercially but they're doing very little for the former servicemen living on the estate.

"Our claim is that there is no reason why they cannot move families of soldiers undergoing treatment straight into these vacant properties.

"We see this as a step towards commercialising the Haig Homes estate. This is supposed to be a charity exclusively for ex-service people in need of housing but they're doing this for profit."

He added: "There are a lot of issues here that are niggling and I'm angry with Haig Homes because they have dismissed everything that we have tried to say to them."

Residents are also concerned that the introduction of non-servicemen on the estate could cause an "unhappy mix" or even break up the community.

A spokeswoman for Haig Homes said: "Any commercial let will only be on a short term basis which is preferable to keeping the property empty as empty properties might, in turn, put pressure on other tenants' rents.

"Money being spent on putting the property into a condition to let, will also benefit the incoming Shackleton Project soldiers undergoing rehabilitation and is in line with any other void property preparation for re-letting."

She added that the top priority for Haig Homes is to meet the housing needs of severely injured servicemen and the only homes to be rented would otherwise be empty until the appropriate tenant moved in.