Housing Minister John Healey announced over half a million pounds extra funding to create more choice based lettings schemes across the country and expand several others already in place.
The schemes offer tenants greater mobility, choice and flexibility when looking at their housing options - enabling them to move across different local authority areas - for example, if they were looking to move for a job opportunity.
Since the programme began in 2005 more than £6.5 million has been given to councils to work with housing associations to provide increased choice and mobility for thousands of new and existing social housing tenants.
Over 80% of local authorities across England now have a scheme in place or in development. The Government has a target to ensure choice based lettings are rolled out across the whole of the country by the end of this year.
The successful sub-regional schemes are:
Information Notes
Communities and Local Government's 5-year housing plan, Sustainable Communities: Homes for All, published on 24 January 2005, set out plans for taking forward choice based lettings (CBL) policy. The aim is to have in place choice nationwide by 2010.
Communities and Local Government is making available £7 million over five years (2005-2010) to fund new sub-regional and regional CBL schemes. Applicants were invited to submit bids for the fifth round of funding by 9 October 2009.
Sub-regional CBL brings together a number of local authorities and housing associations in schemes which cross local authority boundaries.
