Selby residents asked for views on council house system (From York Press)

Selby residents asked for views on council house system

7:47am Saturday 29th December 2012 in News

RESIDENTS of a North Yorkshire district are being asked to say whether or not they think its council housing system is fair.

Selby District Council is holding several meetings to look at possible changes to how tenancies are managed and assess how fair its lettings policies are.

The proposed changes could see shorter, rather than lifetime, tenancies for residents. Most people in need of a council house would be offered a five-year contract.

At the end of the contract the residents’ circumstances would be reviewed to decide whether or not they should move to another house.

For example, if a family had another child during the contract, at the end of the five years they may be offered a larger house to make room for another family to live in their property.

Coun Gillian Ivey, the deputy leader of the council, said: “We need to hear what people think about these important changes to our tenancy policy.

“There is always a high demand for social housing and we want to make sure that we manage our housing stock in the right way to meet the needs of those on the waiting list.”

Any changes would come into effect next summer. The council said people currently in long-term contracts would not be affected.

List of meetings:

• January 14: 6.30pm Tadcaster and Villages Community Engagement Forum (CEF), Riley Smith Hall, Tadcaster

• March 5: 6.30pm Western Area CEF, Eversley Park Centre, Sherburn-in-Elmet

• March 6: 6.30pm Central Area CEF, Brayton Junior School, Brayton

• March 13: 6.30pm Eastern Area CEF, Village Hall, North Duffield

• March 14: 6.30pm Southern Area CEF, Drax Sports and Social Club.