A "mini estate agent" could be set up in York for potential council house tenants to shop around for properties. Rosslyn Snow and Charlotte Percival look at the planned scheme and how it could help local residents.

LIFE for thousands of people seeking a home in York could be about to change forever.

If plans to alter the current allocation system are given the go-ahead, those people hoping to rent council-owned homes in the city will be encouraged to get proactive, playing the property market like private house buyers.

Instead of languishing on a waiting list until a property is offered to them - which they may then reject as unsuitable - they will instead be urged to request details of properties they are interested in.

They can go for viewings and see the property while the current occupants are still living there, ask questions about the neighbours, about the community, about the bills - all those things that the average house-buyer is interested in.

Ultimately they can put in an "offer" for the property that they want. If no one else on the waiting list is interested in it, or if they are higher up the waiting list than other interested parties, then they will have their new home.

It sounds simple - but the process is a genuine departure from the one currently operating in York.

Under the present system, people apply to be put on the waiting list and they are assessed on various issues, such as whether they are homeless, have any medical conditions, current overcrowding problems, or whether they have access to their own bathroom and kitchen.

Each issue carries points, and each applicant is given a points total.

Those with the most points are deemed most in need, and suitable properties that become available are offered to them.

It is then up to them to look at the offer and accept or reject it.

If the property is rejected it is then offered to the next person on the list - and so on.

It is a system that Chris Taylor (not her real name) is struggling with at the moment.

The 27-year-old lives with her nine-month-old son, her parents and her sister in a three-bedroom house in York.

She has been told she is 46th on the housing list.

Chris said she was desperate to have her own house with her baby and her boyfriend, but cannot afford to rent privately.

"All I want is to be a family with my baby and his father," she said.

"We need to be a family. My boyfriend and I are being kept apart because of this.

"I phone the council every week and they tell me something different - last week I was 43rd on the list, today I'm 46th. It has me in tears when I see people moving in from other places like Scarborough and getting a house straight away because they say they're homeless"

Chris said the heating in her parents' house affected her son's chest, and although her doctor and health visitor had told the council about the problem, it had made no difference.

"We have three bedrooms, but one is so small it is a box room, and I have my bed, my son's cot, our drawers, my wardrobe and my sister's wardrobe in there," she said.

"It's got strained between me and my family because I need my independence. My family have been fantastic, but there is only so much they can do for me."

Chris welcomed the council's plans to shake up the allocation system.

She said: "Anything has got to be better than it is now. People who are not fortunate enough to buy their own houses need help."

Councillor Ruth Potter, who drew up a report on the planned scheme, said the current system left people feeling frustrated - and left many properties lying empty until a suitable tenant was found.

She said: "We have still got to allocate homes on the basis of need because there isn't an endless supply of properties. But we can introduce an element of choice.

"When a house is about to become available we can post it on a website, advertise it in the paper or we may even open a mini estate agent where details can be advertised so that people can see if they are interested.

"The more proactive approach gives people a feeling that they have chosen a house, rather than they have been given a house. Hopefully it will take away some of the stigma of council housing. In other areas of the country where this proactive approach has been used, areas that have suffered from a poor image have been turned around because of the marketing involved in the process."

The proactive scheme is already used in Bath and North East Somerset, Eastbourne and Harborough.

It has already been discussed in York by the council's scrutiny management committee, and will be debated further next month.

The aim is to make the whole system clearer for everyone involved and take away lots of the frustration that tenants feel.

Although tenants will have to request details on available houses, those who are not able to or do not want to take such an active role will still have support from council officers.

Another major change would be to the points system. Under the planned scheme tenants would be placed into "bands", according to specific needs, and would be able to shop for houses within their needs group.

Councillor Bill Fairclough, vice-chairman of the housing scrutiny board, said that if passed, the scheme could make all the difference to local people.

He said: "We are hoping it will dramatically change things to the benefit of people on the waiting list.If we can turn over the waiting list quicker with a greater range of properties available it can hopefully speed things up and make things easier.

"At the moment we have got people in accommodation that too big for them and people in accommodation that's too small. There are also about 3,000 people on the waiting list who would be happy for anything at all.

"The current points system is quite restrictive. If you haven't got a sufficiently high points allocation to qualify for a certain property, you are left waiting.

"The banding system will be more flexible and you have got more of a chance of getting certain properties."

The council is also hoping to retain more of its stock of housing, which currently stands at around 7,500 properties, by reducing the discount available to council tenants under the Right To Buy Scheme - introduced by the Tories in the 1980s.

Councillors want the discount reduced from £24,000 to £16,000 as it has been in other parts of the country, particularly the south-east.

Coun Fairclough said: "At one time I think we had about 11,000 properties or more, and we are now down to just under 8,000 available properties. At the moment most of them are let. With this banding system the vacant properties will have a quicker turnover. It should be better for everyone."

Updated: 09:19 Monday, April 04, 2005