New guidance to ensure that councils prioritise local people for social housing was announced by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles yesterday.

Under the proposed system, only people who have lived in an area for two years or more will be given a place on council house waiting lists.

The Government confirmed that an exception would be made for members of the Armed Forces.

One in ten new social housing tenants in England are foreign nationals, and the Government wants to instill confidence that housing is allocated fairly by asking councils to make data on the nationality and other characteristics of social tenants readily available to the public.

Keighley-born MP Mr Pickles, a former Bradford Council leader, said: “This Government is standing up for hard-working people. Local residents and the Armed Forces should be first in line for social housing. This is part of a decisive package of reforms to tackle unsustainable immigration.”