A NEW and radical approach towards tackling York's chronic housing crisis is set to be debated by the city council.

Members of City of York Council's housing scrutiny board are to look for new ways of bridging the gap between the demand on affordable housing stocks and the number of homes available.

One of the aims of the approach is to address York's long-standing homelessness problem, while also cutting back on overcrowding.

A number of forward-thinking measures are set to be discussed by the board, including offering landlords in the private sector incentives to reduce rents and bringing empty properties, including second homes, into the rental pool.

The Government is currently looking at proposals that could allow councils to seize homes if they stand idle for more than six months, in areas where a need has been identified.

Under the plans, backed by York's MP Hugh Bayley, the homes would be added to the rental sector and returned to their original owner after a fixed period of up to seven years.

Scrutiny board member Bill Fairclough said: "There are hundreds of empty properties in York - second homes, holiday homes and investment homes.

"We would like to look at the possibility of taking them on and managing them, updating them if necessary then adding them to the social register."

Coun Fairclough described York's housing situation as "critical" and said the scrutiny board would look at drawing on a wide range of expertise as the council worked to solve it.

Ideas and advice could be gained through a regional approach to the crisis, working with neighbouring councils and housing agencies.

Coun Fairclough added: "There are thousands on the waiting list. People want to be housed, we want them to be housed, but it is a question of availability."

Jeremy Jones, project manager at York Arc Light Centre for the homeless, said: "There has always been a serious lack of affordable housing in York. Any steps to increase that resource would be welcome."

The scrutiny board is due to meet at The Guildhall, York, on October 6.

Updated: 08:33 Tuesday, September 30, 2003