EXETER City Council is set to launch a major consultation in partnership with Exeter University to help draw up a new housing strategy for the city.
The authority revealed there are currently 4,100 families waiting for a council or housing association home in Exeter.
The council is considering doing away with its band E category on the housing register.
And it says a balance needs to be struck between homes for residents and accommodation for students.
According to Councillor Rob Hannaford only one per cent of those in Band E are ever likely to get a council property.
"I know of someone who is adequately housed and has been in band E for 30 years," he said.
"There are many reasons why people want to be council tenants – the rents are lower and they have security, in that leases are longer than they are in the private sector. If you have a young family you don't want to be worried about having to renew a six-month lease all the time. Also, with a council property you can rely on the management and maintenance.
"However, for those in B and E who have housing, it could be that another scheme would benefit them more."
The city council is currently consulting with those on the housing register about its proposals for band E, as well as removing those who refuse three properties deemed suitable for them, giving priority to working households and only registering applicants who have lived in Devon for two years.
The council's policy is that on any new development, 35 per cent of the homes should be reserved for social housing.
It is also working to bring more empty homes back into use.
Mark Jolly, the city council's housing performance manager, said: "We have brought back a total of 51 long-term empties between April 2012 and July this year."
This means Exeter now has fewer long-term empty properties than at any time for the last five years.
There have also been 126 households who have downsized, both council and housing associations, between January 2012 and June this year.
And the city council is pressing ahead with plans for co-operative home ownership which would allow people to live in self-contained homes but on a more communal basis.
Emma Osmundsen, the city council's housing development manager, said: "We have been working with Exeter Eco-housing Co-operative for the last two years, assisting them in the endeavours to secure land to develop a housing scheme.
"We have reviewed a number of council-owned sites, but given that most of the sites are small, the co-operative have decided to pursue a site through the S106 route and the city council is supporting them in this.
"For commercial sensitivity reasons, the details of this site cannot be revealed at the present time. We would hope, subject to the land negotiations being favourable, a co-operative housing scheme will be forthcoming in the near future."
Over the last three years a total of 1,667 new student bedrooms, either in cluster flats or studios have been built but there are some residents who believe that student accommodation would be better confined to the university campus rather than spread across the city.
Cllr Hannaford disagrees. He said: "We don't want the city centre to be hollowed out in terms of housing. We need a balance between students and residents. We don't want huge tracts just for students because there are then issues about when they are there and when they are not there."
