Flats could be built using modules by the homeware giant and partner Skanska 

BoKlok

Worthing council has agreed to work on a plan which would see Ikea and JV partner Skanska provide 162 flats.

BoKlok is a modular, affordable housing developer jointly owned by the Swedish giants that has already built more than 11,000 homes across the Nordic states.

Councillors for the West Sussex town voted through a plan which would see the units built on local authority-owned land – with the developer then paying rent.

The firm previously tried to move into the UK market in 2006, with affordable housing provider Home Group planning to erect the modules under a license.

But plans for a scheme in Gateshead, Tyneside, were kicked into the long grass in 2009 after a collapse in the price of houses.

Cllr 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.”