First-Time Buyers 'Get 20% Discount On Homes'

First-time buyers aged under-40 will be given the chance to buy a starter home at a 20% discount under a new Government scheme.

Planning rules for under-used brownfield sites will be relaxed from Monday in return for developers using the land to build properties to sell at 80% of the market value.

The scheme could save potential buyers tens of thousands of pounds, as the average cost of a first home is currently £218,000.

The Prime Minister said the discount "could be a real game-changer for many aspiring home-owners".

About 45 developers have so far expressed an interest in taking advantage of the move, that would save them around £15,000 per home in obligations.

Suggested designs for the new homes have been compiled by a panel including leading architects Sir Terry Farrell and Sir Quinlan Terry based on the best from around the country.

They highlighted "attractive properties that can meet the demands of modern life".

Potential buyers can express interest online now and the discount will apply for five years to prevent anyone seeking to make a quick profit.

Mr Cameron said: "We want to help people who work hard and want to get on in life but have been priced out of the housing market.

"A 20% discount off the price could be a real game-changer for many aspiring home-owners. My message is clear: we are on your side and we will help you fulfil your dream of buying your first home."

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said: "The number of first-time buyers is already at a seven-year high and these starter homes... will help even more people realise their dream of home ownership.

"This will also form part of our wider efforts to get the country building again, which have already led to 700,000 new homes being delivered since the end of 2009."

But shadow housing minister Emma Reynolds said it remained unclear how the policy would deliver.

She said: "Warm words from David Cameron about home ownership will ring hollow for those young people and families who have been priced out of home ownership over the past five years.

"This Government has presided over the lowest levels of house building in peacetime since the 1920s and home ownership is at its lowest level for 30 years.

"There is also a record number of young people living at home with their parents in to their twenties and thirties.

"Labour will get at least 200,000 homes built a year by 2020, including badly needed affordable homes, and we will give first-time buyers first call on homes built in local areas of housing growth."