IF York's first-ever floating homes get the go-ahead they will sell for a little more than £100,000 each - about £80,000 less than the average cost of a house in the city.

That is the prediction of John Reeves, chairman of the Helmsley Group, which wants City of York Council to agree to a change of use on the River Foss at Walmgate, so that huge floating pontoons could form the base for high quality, well-insulated timber-framed homes.

The location would involve a stretch of river alongside the Dixons Yard redevelopment site already owned by the Helmsley Group, where planning consent has been granted for 50 apartments.

Mr Reeves said: "We would be able to keep down the costs of what in effect will be a two-bedroomed house because we won't have the issue of land costs.

"There will also be significantly less costs building one of these rather than a traditional home because they can be manufactured in dry conditions in modular off-site factories - precisely the process Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott is trying to encourage."

He said that the Helmsley Group also owned other riverside land where similar developments could be built and sold at low cost, although he refused to state exactly where.

The Evening Press reported on Tuesday that the average price of a home in York was now more than £180,000.

Local residents have argued that the Helmsley Group idea could destroy a quiet riverside environment where lilies grow and moorhens swim.

But Mr Reeves said: "The very nature of the units being floating, means they will not damage the flora and fauna of the area and will help to breathe life back into an under utilised resource."

He said: "We make no bones about the fact that if these prove to be acceptable to the market place, we would like to roll this concept out throughout the country on other sites, thereby in a small way taking some of the pressure away from the development of more controversial areas such as green belt."

He also revealed that if his controversial ideas get the go-ahead, the floating homes project could -

Incorporate green features such as small wind turbines and solar panels

quot;Breathe life" into York's underused waterways while providing affordable homes in good locations

Put York "in the forefront for new housing ideas."

Mr Reeves recognised the obvious technical difficulties with flooding which needed to be overcome before the concept of a city centre floating homes project could be taken a stage further.

But he rejected a suggestion that the floating homes should be located three miles north or south of York in a rural setting.

"This totally defeats the object of local and government policy, being that homes should be built in sustainable locations, minimising travel and reliance on the car."

City of York Council has invited residents to air their views on the proposal. If permission is granted for a change of use, a second planning application would be needed for consent for the building and infrastructure.

That would include detail about the two bolted-together 18.5 metre by 6.5 metre pontoons, which would be craned on to the river and securely moored to the bank before the buildings were placed on them.

Updated: 10:45 Thursday, August 11, 2005