HOUSEHUNTERS will have greater choice when looking for new homes, under a new district council scheme. Homes 4 West Wilts aims to offer more options to people on the housing register looking for properties.

The system will be up and running next Wednesday and an open day next Tuesday at Trowbridge Civic Hall between 11am and 3pm will offer guidance to applicants.

Under the old system the council would allocate housing based on their views of need and suitability.

The new choice based letting will give more say to the 3,500 people who are on the social housing register.

Properties will be advertised in the Wiltshire Times and West and North Wilts Star as well as on the internet at www.homes4westwilts.co.uk

If you are interested in one of the homes, you can bid online, in person or on the phone.

Once registered, it is free to bid and the council will then allocate the property to the person considered in the most need.

Bosses hope it will make the difficult task of allocating social housing more open and put the emphasis on the families.

"The Government asked that all local authorities start creating some form of choice in the letting of social housing," Adele Lodwig, the district council's housing needs register and support team leader said.

"We are expecting an increase in the number of people applying for housing because this system will offer more choice and flexibility. The new system is clearer and more open but we hope people will come along to the open day to find out more."

Sarah Cardy from the west Wiltshire Citizens Advice Bureau said she would be keeping a keen eye on the new system.

She said: "Any policy change will have an impact on our clients be it negative or positive.

"Until we have seen it working we can't really comment as that would be purely speculation.

"The concerns we talked about at our staff meeting was that not everybody has access to the internet.

"We will be giving advice to anyone who wants it and obviously we will give advice independently from the district council."

Ms Cardy also spoke of the problems of the points system and said she hoped offering more choice would help families.

"The problem with the points system is it is not necessarily sophisticated enough to pick up all the different issues that are involved," she said.

"If the new system offers more choice, for example if people want to live near their family, then that is obviously a good thing."

Cllr Virginia Fortescue, housing portfolio holder, said it was an "enormous improvement" on the current process.

She said: "The Government has told councils they should introduce choice into the allocation of properties to people on the housing register by 2010.

"Our housing needs team has been working extremely hard to get this new system in place, and I hope anyone with a query about how the scheme will work will come along to the open day to find out more.

"I'm very pleased with the scheme and I'm looking forward to the launch to see what people make of it."