Council aims to give people roots

Members of Leeds City Council's executive board earlier agreed that 25 per cent of the homes it owns should be let to residents with a local connection to the area where they want to live.

It is hoped this policy will improve community cohesion in parts of the city that currently have a large number of residents without long-term links to the area.

It is also hoped the change will help people who have no real opportunity currently of securing a council home.

Hyde Park and Woodhouse councillor Penny Ewens is urging people to get involved in the discussions.

A trial scheme in Rothwell has led to an increase in the number of successful local applicants in the area rising from 20 per cent to 60 per cent.

The new criteria will only apply to prospective tenants with long -standing housing applications and who also have a record of good behaviour. Coun Penny Ewens (Lib Dem, Hyde Park and Woodhouse) said: "I very much welcome the proposal to reserve 25 per cent of homes for local people.

"For too long the council has ignored the effect that large numbers of residents with no local ties can have on a community.

"This is will help us build stronger and more durable local communities in Leeds.

"There is a lot of social housing in Hyde Park and Woodhouse and these proposals could have a big impact many of our local estates. This makes it very important that as many people as possible take part in the consultation and make sure their views are heard."

Public talks come a year after councillors raised concerns about the management of the current lettings policy, particularly how fair the policy is and how applications for council houses are handled.

Other proposals in the report presented to members of the executive board include:

Greater preference for offers of houses and maisonettes to households with dependent children.

Greater priority for overcrowded families.

New direct-let categories for those who have experienced hate crime, plus households with vulnerable adults or children. Although national guidelines insist that those in the most need must be given for priority, councils are allowed to develop local priorities.

The authority says its proposal aims to tackle the perception among some residents that the lettings policy is unfair. The consultation document says: "We still want to offer homes to people who have an urgent need to move, but we also want to give people who have been waiting a long time a better chance to move home.

"Under the new proposals, Leeds City Council would let 75 per cent of council homes to people with the highest housing need. We would also let 25 per cent of homes to the people who have been waiting the longest."

Earlier Coun Les Carter, the council's former executive board member for housing said: "Council housing should be for those in the greatest and most immediate need.

"But we have to accept that there's a perception that the way we allocate council houses is unfair against local people."

Public talks on the plans run until August 31 and will consider a number of other proposals such as whether people should be prioritised on the basis of how long they've been on the waiting list or if people should be penalised for turning down a home.

People can participate by filling out the online questionnaire at http://goo.gl/CICi