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Flat-pack homes are here!

Ikea has become Britain's newest housing developer.

After selling an estimated thirty million Billy bookcases around the world, the company is now building prefabricated wooden homes on Tyneside. Shipped over from Scandinavia, where the firm has already put up 3,500 of its BokLok homes, the buildings are being erected on site and will be sold as low-cost 'affordable' housing.

The development, opposite Gateshead's International Stadium, is a mix of shared-ownership, rented accommodation and outright sale. There are 36 flats and 47 houses available for households earning between £15,000 and £35,000 a year who are not already homeowners.

They cost under £100,000 per flat and £150,000 for a house. The firm says the houses will have a Swedish feel - with open plan rooms, high ceilings and big windows.

People wanting to move in had to register their interest at Ikea's Gateshead store in October, and Britain's first BokLok tenants and owners will be moving in soon.