Sheffield council bosses have listened to local residents and plan to give people more time to consider buying the freehold land their property stands on under new guidelines.

Residents have been concerned about how much time they were given to decide whether or not to buy the freehold of their property before the Council decides to sell it.

The move follows a campaign by residents in Hollybank, Moss Grove and Cookswood, Shirecliffe, who made representations to the Council before May 2008, after it sold the freehold of their homes.

The matter was referred to the Council's Scrutiny Board and as a result local residents are now going to be better informed of their rights to buy the freehold and given more time to do so, if they wish. The Council suspended the sale of freeholds until the system could be thoroughly looked at and recommendations made to improve it.

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The residents' complaint was heard by the Local Ombudsman who decided that the Council complied with its legal obligations.

But in a bid to ensure that residents are given more opportunity to decide if they want to purchase the freehold, the Scrutiny Board is recommending that the current notice to sell of seven weeks is extended to at least 16.

Under current law, people have the right to buy the freehold no matter who owns it, whether it is a local authority, company or individual.

Sheffield City Council Leader Paul Scriven said: "This action has been taken as a direct consequence of listening to what people wanted. We think it is only fair that people are given more time to consider something that is important about where they live and whether they want to have more ownership of a property."

Cabinet members are expected to agree the recommendations put forward at their meeting on 14 January.

(CD/JM)