Tenants currently receive a basic payment of £1500 plus £400 for each surplus bedroom that they give up.

Since it was introduced, 64 tenants have taken advantage of the incentive scheme and transferred to smaller houses - freeing up larger properties for families who need the extra accommodation.

Yesterday the council’s communities committee agreed to increase the basic payment to £1900 and to set an annual target of 25 downsizing transfers.

The committee heard that tenancy records suggested that more than 430 tenants were currently living in properties which were under-occupied.

“Although these records may not be wholly accurate, it does support the need for a downsizing incentive scheme,” said head of housing and property, Richard Anderson.

Mr Anderson said the financial incentives offered as part of the current scheme compared favourably with those offered by other councils.

“While it is not proposed to change the basic format, the one area where tenants have raised concerns is the level of unforeseen disruption that a housing transfer can create.

“To reflect this, it is proposed to award an additional £400 per transfer to the basic payment to cover unforeseen costs.”

In line with other applicants on the housing list, downsizing applicants will continue to be given two reasonable offers of accommodation.