On 17 October the York Council is likely to authorise changes to the current housing registrations service.

City of York Council operates a choice based lettings (CBL) system for applicants to bid for affordable rented homes across North Yorkshire and York. The system was introduced by the LibDem administration in 2011.

The Council says that “a recent review of it has identified changes that would streamline processes for applicants and officers. The detailed consultation and review included involving staff from multiple council services as well as visits to other local authorities that use other application or bidding systems. The council also conducted two consultations with customers on the current system.

A number of changes have already taken place including streamlining administration, interviewing new applicants and updating housing advice.

The Executive Member will be asked to give officers authority to work with the North Yorkshire Home Choice partnership to discuss changing from a choice based lettings (advertising and bidding) system to an officer allocation system based on customer preference, and also to start discussions about future changes to the allocations and letting policy.