PLANS to build a housing estate that includes cut-price homes for local people have been approved.

The application to build 68 homes on the outskirts of Sedgefield village includes ten affordable properties aimed at keeping people in the borough.

Officers at Sedgefield Borough Council have worked with developer McInerney Homes North East, in Fishburn, to ensure that the properties are not priced beyond the means of people who live, work or have family ties to the area.

The proposal will see the ten affordable homes sold privately, at 25 per cent less than the market value, to house hunters who meet a set of criteria likely to be based on residency in Sedgefield village, family connection and employment in the area.

It is also expected that a perpetuity clause would be included to ensure the properties remain affordable and they could not be sub-let.

In a report that went before the borough council's development control committee yesterday morning, officers highlighted the need for developers to offer more affordable homes.

It stated that property prices across the borough had increased dramatically in recent years, yet the average salary is more than £3,000 less than the UK average.

In the TS21 postcode district, in which the development would lie, there has been a 67 per cent average price rise since 2001.

However, the plans have been met with objections by neighbours and members of Sedgefield Town Council.

The main issues of concern are over parking and traffic problems, the density of the development and the impact on the nearby Sedgefield Community Hospital.

Officers said the scheme was well-designed and in three areas - an enclosed three-storey apartment block, a spacious area with open gardens and landscaping and a walled gateway that will lead to another apartment block.

The homes are a mixture of one and two bedroom apartments and two, three, four and five bedroom houses.