A new way of allocating council housing which favours York people has been given the green light.

From April 1 next year City of York Council will move from its traditional points-based system to a "band approach" to make the system fairer.

Applicants will be placed in five bands, with those in A having the highest priority and those in E, which includes people from outside the city, having the lowest.

The council wants to favour people brought up in the city who are still living with their parents and have been on the waiting list a long time.

There were 4,000 people on the waiting list in April 2005, but the council only managed to find 600 secure lettings in the last financial year. It is thought 1,000 new people joined the waiting list in the last year.

At a meeting of the executive member for housing and advisory panel in York Guildhall there was opposition from some councillors to the "local lettings" aspect of the policy. Councillors were concerned it would mean residents could choose to ask to have particular blocks of flats or houses "zoned" according to age, and create "ghettos" - though this was denied by council leader Steve Galloway (Lib Dem).

Coun David Horton, Labour's housing spokesman, also attacked what he saw as the council's patronising attitude towards its tenants and, in particular, the introduction of a Good Neighbour tenant scheme.

But Coun Galloway said: "The policy needed more transparency.

"Under the old system it was incredibly difficult for people on the waiting list to understand what was going on and see how their case was being processed.

"This new banding system reflects needs and is designed to let people see themselves gradually moving up the list."

Under the new system there will be five gradings:

Band A, "very urgent", will be for people who have a local connection to York or are accepted as homeless who are also fleeing violence, have serious health or wellbeing issues, or are forced to move because of council repairs.

Band B, "high priority", will contain people with a local connection or accepted as homeless who have learning, mental health or care needs, or have homes in disrepair or lacking facilities such as a suitable bathroom.

Band C, "medium priority", will contain people with a local connection who need to move to access work or schools, or who are living in overcrowded homes.

Band D, "low priority", is for people with a local connection who are on benefits, have to share a living room, kitchen or bathroom with another household, families who are separated and those living in private rented accommodation which is too big.

Band E, "no priority", is for people who live in York in adequate housing or people from outside the city.

Updated: 10:41 Thursday, September 08, 2005