A new way of letting council and housing association homes in Plymouth called Devon Home Choice will be introduced tomorrow, 13 January.

Plymouth City Council has been advertising homes to let to give customers more choice for the past three years, but has now joined a partnership of all local councils in Devon.

Under Devon Home Choice, council and housing association homes available for rent will be advertised on the internet, in newsletters and on digital TV.

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People with applications on the new Devon Home Choice housing register will be able to bid each week for up to three homes that meet their needs. From all the bids, the successful person or family will be the one who is eligible, has the highest housing need and has been waiting the longest.

Existing Plymouth Housing Register applicants will have their current application transferred onto the new Devon wide register. In the next week they will receive a new reference number for their application by letter, together with a user guide booklet.

Councillor Ted Fry, Cabinet member for Housing, said: "Devon Home Choice will cover the whole of the county and will provide a single approach to assessing housing need.

"The new system means people on the register will have a greater choice of homes and the ability to move to other areas of Devon, for example to take up a new job."

(CD/GK)