SIDMOUTH and Ottery residents on East Devon District Council s Housing Register will soon receive a letter asking them to register for a new choice based lettings scheme. Devon Home Choice will enable people to bid for homes that meet their needs but, ra

SIDMOUTH and Ottery residents on East Devon District Council's Housing Register will soon receive a letter asking them to register for a new choice based lettings scheme.

Devon Home Choice will enable people to bid for homes that meet their needs but, rather than restricting the choice to the district in which they are registered, from January 2010 they will be able to bid for a home anywhere in Devon.

People will need to re-register or their housing application will no longer be considered.

People can register by using the Devon Home Choice website at www.devonhomechoice.com or by going to EDDC's website www.eastdevon.gov.uk/dhc. Applications should be sent by the end of November.

District councillor Jill Elson said: "By working together under the umbrella of Devon Home Choice, the ten local councils and the majority of Housing Associations in Devon are able to pool their resources and offer housing applicants a wider choice of property.

"I would like to reassure those people already on EDDC's Housing Register that their existing housing application is safe and that the council will continue to make offers of housing in the same way as it does now until the Devon Home Choice scheme goes live."

Dennis Boobier, EDDC's Housing Needs Manager, added: "Once the scheme has gone live, all available council and housing association homes in Devon will be advertised through the Devon Home Choice website, in newsletters and via digital TV. So please read the letter we have sent you and re-register as soon as possible after 26 October.