A PILOT scheme to help homebuyers in Winchester get on the housing ladder has been rubber stamped by Winchester City Council.

Councillors voted in favor of the open-market shared ownership scheme.

The scheme supports local residents by providing equity to buy a property in the district for those who do not have enough money for the deposit required for a house.

Through charging a rent on the deposit element the council will ensure a financial return for the taxpayer whilst ensuring that the authority's investment activity is targeted in the local area.

Residents in the area will need to meet criteria to access the scheme, with higher scores for those who have lived in the district for over ten years, work in the district and are first-time buyers.

The household will normally own 70 per cent of the property - with a deposit of at least per cent per cent of this value depending on circumstances - with the council owning a 30 per cent share.

In the future, the household can buy the council out of its share.

Former council leader Stephen Godfrey outlined the scheme at a the last city council meeting.

Cllr Godfrey said: "Winchester is the second least affordable place to live because of the cost of hosing compared to the average income, we need to try and do what we can to change this.

There are people who can't afford to live in Winchester who work in Winchester and we need to do more for them, and the council budget over the next three or four years will introduce innovative ways to bolster that budget, we want to help people that want to buy a house in Winchester sharing the cost with them so they can purchase any house they want and only pay a portion of that house."

Conservative city councillor Ian Tait said that the scheme may not be enough to help the housing issue in Winchester.

Cllr Tait said: "This is not going to solve our housing issue, the way we weil solve it is by building more houses, I feel like a lone voice, I support development of housing that's a way to address concerns, do not think this is going to address our housing issue it will not, building more homes will and when I mention this please support me."