WILTSHIRE Council has removed 19,000 people from the list for social housing — leaving just 1,200 eligible for council accommodation.

The decision came after the council decided in December that too many people on the lowest bronze banding had no housing needs and should look at alternative options.

It then ruled that every person signed-up to the Homes4Wiltshire service needed to re-apply.

It is a decision that left leader of the Labour group Ricky Rogers “staggered” and he called for a rethink on the policy.

He said: “The new criteria should have been for people applying in the future not for those already on the list.

“I think it is shameful that people who have spent years waiting for housing have now been removed.”

Council bosses had claimed it would take 28 years for an individual in the bronze banding to find a home and wanted to change policy so housing was for those who needed, rather than wanted, it.

The decision meant people who spent years looking for housing were removed from the list, including nearly 9,000 people on the higher priority silver, gold, gold plus and platinum bands.

This included one woman who was told by the council her depression was no longer classed as a medical need.

Leigh Marie Fenly, from Tidworth, spent five years on the Homes4Wiltshire list in a house “riddled with damp and mould”, but had struggled to find alternative accommodation.

Despite a number of requests to her housing association, Aster, the problem has still not been fixed and she has now lost her opportunity to be re-homed through the council.

Aster Group confirmed it had received a complaint.

The council said the decision was made following a consultation and many people who had no connection to the county were removed.

A spokesman said: “We wrote to these [people no longer eligible for housing] to explain that our new policy aims to manage expectations better by not registering those who are unlikely to be re-housed through Homes4Wiltshire, and to encourage them to look at the alternative options available to them. We also received thousands of returned letters as many people had either moved or passed away. In addition, those with rent arrears are also no longer eligible to join the register.”