Most people who contributed to a consultation want ’greater fairness’ in allocating public sector housing.

More than 70% of people who completed a government online survey conducted by the Department of Infrastructure’s public estates and housing division agreed with the proposed amendments to the existing access and eligibility criteria.

The current criteria for general needs housing was last assessed in 2002.

Following the recent updating of the Older Persons (Sheltered) criteria in 2016, the proposed modernisation of the system would enable housing providers to target resources more accurately at applicants with the greatest housing need.

There were a total of 182 responses to the online survey in addition to a number of letters and emails.

Julie Edge MHK, the politician with responsibility for public estates and housing, said: ’The department continues to work with local housing authorities to review access and eligibility criteria, and I wish to thank everyone who used the opportunity to submit their views on this important issue. We believe the proposed amendments will succeed in modernising the process and, crucially, allow the people most in need of support to be correctly prioritised.’

The feedback gathered during the consultation will be considered during the development of policy recommendations for consideration by the department and Tynwald.