The political make-up of an association being set up to own and run council housing has been decided.

There will be two Labour and two Conservative councillors on the board that will take on Brighton and Hove's 13,000 council homes if tenants vote "yes" next year.

The authority was forced to climb down on a decision to allow only members who voted in favour of the stock transfer to stand, following complaints of an undemocratic process.

A last-minute amendment tabled by council leader Ken Bodfish meant all nominations would be considered, including those from Greens and Liberal Democrats who opposed the transfer.

But in the end the committee vote meant they were excluded anyway - members chose Labour councillors Tehmtan Framroze and Les Hamilton and Conservatives Carol Theobald and Ken Norman to sit on the board.

Until the last minute, housing directors had said only those who voted in favour of transferring council homes would be eligible to stand to ensure all board members acted in the best interests of the new association. Lib Dem leader Paul Elgood made a legal challenge to the ruling.

He said: "We challenged this because the ruling was just plainly wrong.

"We sit on many boards and panels and we don't always agree with elements of their work but we still contribute positively to them.

"This legal advice was deeply flawed and when challenged it crumbled.

"At least a fair and open process was allowed but we had to fight to get it this far."

Labour councillor and housing committee chairman Don Turner said: "We made the amendment because of Paul's complaint. We didn't think it was worth the battle."

Tenants' elections will now be held to decide their six representatives.

Tenant and council members will choose five independent representatives to complete the board.

It will play a crucial role in balloting tenants next year, If they vote "yes" in that referendum, it will take on ownership and management of the homes.

A "yes" vote will unlock £1 million a week to spend on property improvements.