THOUSANDS of families waiting for homes in York could be given relief if an overhaul of the council's allocation system is approved.

Members of a board which looks at York's housing needs want to bin the current "points" allocation system and replace it with a fairer "band" scheme.

They also want to make the "right to buy" scheme less attractive, so more council properties would be available to let.

The cross-party Housing Scrutiny Board has come up with a scheme to improve the system, which was discussed by the Scrutiny Management Committee yesterday.

Board chairman David Livesley said an overhaul would reduce discrimination and cut the housing list, which currently stands at over 3,000.

City of York Council's allocation system is currently run on a points system, with officers ranking people in order of their needs - placing the most vulnerable at the top.

If the new plans are approved, tenants would be given more choice on where they wanted to live, by bidding for properties either at an estate agent's or online.

They would be placed into "bands", according to specific needs, and would be able to shop for houses within their needs group.

The board believes it would bring badly-needed relief to York's severely overstretched housing waiting list by getting tenants into properties faster. It could also reduce the amount of time properties are empty.

As part of the scheme, councillors want the discount for council tenants buying their homes under the Right To Buy scheme - introduced by the Tories in the 1980s - reduced by a third.

This would mean tenants would only be able to borrow £16,000 to buy their homes, as opposed to the £24,000 they are currently allowed.

Coun Livesley said there were many housing pressures on York, which had led to discrimination within the housing system.

"York attracts much inward movement and has done for quite a while," he said, after the meeting. "Some of the people coming in come to low-paid work and cannot afford to buy housing in what is a very attractive place with almost South Eastern style of housing prices in relation to the average income."

The plans will now be discussed by the ruling executive.

Shadow executive housing member, Coun Ruth Potter, who drew up the report, said it would make a real difference for housing in the city.

Updated: 10:33 Wednesday, March 30, 2005