A proposal has been approved to develop a community housing scheme which aims prevent eligible households from being priced out of the market.

In March 2022, Ceredigion’s Full Council made a commitment to support a scheme which it says will "help people meet their affordable housing needs in their local communities by creating a pathway to home ownership."

The council says that affordable housing is a key priority of the county's corporate strategy and it deploys "significant resources" in creating and managing affordable housing.

A council spokesperson said: "There are already over 4,000 affordable homes across Ceredigion.

"However, this is not enough to meet demand as the existing properties are generally restricted to those people in most need (social rented).

"There remains a group of people who we consider to have an ‘intermediate need’ who wish to purchase properties in their local communities but are priced out of the market.

"This is due to the increasing demand for rural properties and availability of affordable units in rural settlements."

Aberporth and Y Ferwig Councillor Clive Davies welcomed the scheme, saying it will help ensure the long-term support for residents to secure a home.

"I'm happy to see this proposal has been approved to develop a community housing scheme in Ceredigion," he said.

"As Cabinet member for the Economy and Regeneration, the intention of the plan is to ensure long-term support for the residents of Ceredigion to get a home.

"As a result, it will support those who need housing to stay in their communities.

"The scheme is designed to prevent those eligible households from being priced out of the market, prevent further rural decline and depopulation."

The scheme will be funded by the money raised from the 25 per cent council tax second homes premium.

There was an estimated £1.5m available at 31 March 2023, and going forward it is estimated that the council tax second homes premium will continue to raise £400k per annum to fund this scheme.

Further funding will be released as equity loans are repaid to the Council when properties are sold or when ownership becomes 'full ownership'.

More information on how to apply to the scheme and details of the criteria will be published once the application process has been finalised.