TEIGNBRIDGE Council has applied to the Government’s £1.2 billion Unlocking the Land Fund, which is designed to help bring forward 30,000 custom build or starter homes outside London by 2020.

If successful, the scheme could help young first-time buyers purchase a new home at a minimum of 20 per cent discount compared to market prices.

Jeremy Christophers, leader of Teignbridge Council, said: ‘Teignbridge, as a Custom-Build Vanguard Council, is continually looking for opportunities to help young people live in their own homes.’

The fund will mean that Teignbridge can bring forward shovel-­ready sites with planning permission already in place, so that local people under 40 can live in homes which they own themselves.

‘With average new build house prices for first time buyers standing at around £240,000, a new starter home could save young first time buyers an average of £48,000 and help them to get on the housing ladder,’ Cllr Christophers added.

According to the minister for housing and planning, only 38 per cent of people under the age of 40 now own their home compared to 61 per cent in the early 1990s.

The executive member for planning and housing at Teignbridge, Cllr Humphrey Clemens, said: ‘Building on previously developed land helps to secure much needed homes.

‘It provides opportunities for regeneration to overcome barriers and make progress on land that otherwise could stand empty for years.’