Hi-tech way to apply for council housing

A pioneering system allowing council home seekers to keep track of properties and declare an interest immediately has been launched in Lichfield.

Lichfield District Council and HomeZone Living are changing the way such housing in the area is accessed. Instead of waiting for the council to offer property, applicants can register an interest in homes as they become available.

They will be able to do so either on-line, by touch-tone telephone, text message, or by contacting the council's housing office.

Properties will go to the applicant who registered an interest who has been waiting in the highest band of need for the longest time.

The new scheme, called UChoosehomes, is designed to make access to affordable rented properties more straightforward and gives people more choice about where they live.

Details of the first properties available to rent are now available online at www. uchoosehomes.co.uk or in council receptions and other public buildings.

Darrin Gamble, assistant director of housing at HomeZone Living, said: "This is a great example of housing organisations working to-gether for the benefit of our customers.

"UChoose will enable us to provide a greater choice of homes, over a wider area, for people to choose from while continuing to ensure that our empty homes are let to those in the greatest housing need."

Council housing director Helen Spearey said: "UChoose will offer local people the chance to search for properties over a far larger area, allowing much more flexibility about where they can live.

"We're pleased to be a part of the new partnership and know that local people will still be able to access good quality local housing."

Residents on the current Your Choice housing register, held by HomeZone Living, will be contacted and automatically transferred onto the new UChoose register. The scheme has also been introduced in Cannock Chase.