Kettering Council is planning to work with schools to ensure more young people in the town are aware that getting a council house may not be as straightforward as they think.

Around half the people who are registered with the council as homeless are aged between 16 to 24 years.

Now officers want young people who have been in a similar situation to share their experiences with pupils before they leave school.

Accommodation Concern already goes into schools to talk about the issue and now the council wants to join forces with it and other agencies to tackle the problem.

John Conway, head of housing at the council, said people can be registered as homeless if, for example, they are sleeping on a friend's sofa.

He said: "We want to talk to young people as early as possible.

"We need them to be more realistic about the housing situation – they have a row with mum and dad and they have expectations about how easy it is to get a council house which are out of kilter with reality.

"Young people have ambitions to have their own home but they are surprised when they can't get a council house."

Mr Conway said they will be looking at which areas young people applying for housing are coming from, so they can pilot the scheme in those parts of town.

He said: "Sometimes it's a generation thing. Their grandparents might have had a council house, then their parents and so they think, 'it's my turn now.'"

Mr Conway said the mentors could be drawn from groups of young people who have taken part in the council's Move On Move In programme.

This is a training course which they undertake before they take on a council house tenancy, where they receive advice on things such as managing a budget and home maintenance.

He said: "We want to do some kind of project work with schools and go beyond a 'chalk and talk' approach.That's where our next work lies."

The plans are part of the council's programme to develop its services after it was selected as this year's East Midlands Regional Centre of Excellence for Youth Homelessness.

It means the council will share its practice with other local authorities.

The council has also been selected by the Government to be a housing options trailblazer, which means it will develop its services, offering things such as training and healthy living advice to tenants.

Eighteen-year-old Emma Binley, of Farnborough Close, Kettering, said: "If a 21-year-old is telling teenagers what it is like to try to get a council house, it could help them realise it's not for them. On the other hand, the mentors could promote it if it seems that the tenant is happy with what they will get."