A new allocation system for council housing in Bristol goes live today (March 16th).

The system places all applicants for housing into one of five bands, depending on the urgency of their case.

When a property becomes available, it will be allocated to the person who has specified that type of property and waited the longest in the highest band.

The top band will be reserved for people whose situation is particularly acute, for example homeless families, sufferers of domestic violence and urgent medical cases.

Councillor John Kiely, executive member for Housing and Adult Community Care, said: "The introduction of the banding system is an important step towards improving the way social housing in Bristol is allocated."

He added: "The banding system is also simpler than the old points and priority system, making it much easier to understand and more user friendly."

Letters will be sent to applicants over the next three weeks to inform them which band they are in.

Bristol city council administers a housing register for 29,000 council homes, with a further 10,000 homes being managed by housing association partners.