Ikea has announced plans to build affordable housing in Britain.

The news comes after an agreement by Worthing council to work with a housing developer co-owned by the retailing giant.

According to a Retail Gazette report, Worthing, West Sussex council will be working with Swedish property developer BoKlok, as well as construction firm Skanska, specialising in factory-built housing, to help to establish property prices so that buyers have money left to live on after they have paid their housing costs.

Boklok has built 11,000 homes in Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway, reports The Guardian, and is now seeking to enter the UK market after a false start over 10 years ago.

Should the plans proceed, work will get underway in September next year, with residents able to move in in April 2021.

A total of 162 affordable flats will be constructed on a plot of land owned by Worthing council.

Further homes may follow in the future, with the council and BoKlok agreeing a programme to provide 500 homes in the area.

As per Office for National Statistics data, properties in Worthing currently cost 11.7 times the residents’ local salaries, compared with a figure of 7.8 times across England and Wales.

Within the plans, the council will license the developer to use the land, rather than sell it, and charge a yearly ground rent.

In return, the council will obtain 30% of the properties to use as affordable housing to rent to locals, with the other properties sold by Boklok based on its “left to live” affordability model.

Councillor Kevin Jenkins, Worthing borough council’s executive member for regeneration, said: “In this current market it’s extremely tough for local people who are in full-time work to get on the housing market.

“This proposal could change that, giving these hard-working individuals a genuine chance to buy their own home without having to move out of the town.”

 

Read today's latest news updates - US pressure on Iran may not work again