“INNOVATIVE” plans for couples to share flats at Fossetts Farm will help keep costs down and help young people struggling to find an affordable home, it has been claimed.

Southend Council has come under fire over the proposed plan for 1,300 homes which will see upmarket properties built with rents 20 per cent higher than the average price in the city and just 15 per cent affordable homes.

However, in a bid to mitigate the price of rent, some of the homes will be designed for “co-habitation” and aimed at the “sharer’s market”, with two couples or individuals sharing a home.

The unusual scheme would enable couples to team up and share a home and could prove a popular option for young people as house prices soar.

David Garston, councillor responsible for housing and planning in the last administration, said: “The idea is that there would be two bathrooms and probably a shared kitchen but they would have their own space – almost like a two flat converted house.

“I think it’s a good idea because it keeps the cost down. It wouldn’t all be those but it would be good to have some. To have a mix is a good idea. It could also be for couples whose children have grown up.”

Southend Council is currently carrying out “due diligence” on the homes scheme, which will allow the sale of Southend United from Ron Martin to a consortium headed up by Justin Rees. If the council fails to find tenants for the homes once built, it could be left responsible for paying rents on the properties.

In the future the council will have the right to buy the homes for a nominal sum.

Colin Nickless, from the Fossetts for the People campaign group, said: “In a way that is quite an innovative approach but I’m concerned we are getting excuses to push luxury or executive properties and you just push the price of rents up, when the solution really should be that we need genuinely affordable housing.”

The homes at Fossetts Farm, where a new stadium was once planned, will see up to 1,311 properties built in three “zones”. While the mix is still to be finally agreed, currently, zone A will have 911 apartments, zone B will have 330 homes with 93 per cent houses and Zone C will see 315 new homes built with 70 per cent of them houses.