The timber-framed homes, on sale at the furniture giant’s Gateshead store on Tyne and Wear, will be targeted at firsttime buyers struggling to get on the property ladder.

The concept was pioneered in Sweden in the 1990s and has grown in popularity with more than 1,000 of the houses springing up each year across Scandinavia.

Home improvement enthusiasts, however, will be denied the ultimate DIY project since all the properties will already be assembled.

Known as BoKlok, the flats and houses will be eco-friendly, using renewable materials in the construction and featuring solar panels and geothermal equipment incorporated in the design.

All the properties will be south-facing to catch as much sunlight as possible to warm the house.

An area of land has already been set aside in the centre of Gateshead for an estate of around 90 of the DIY homes.

Flats cost between £100,000 and £125,000, two-bedroom houses cost £132,500-£139,500 and three-bedroom houses are on sale for £150,000.

Councillor David Napier, responsible for housing at Gateshead council, welcomed the development which, he said, was “an important contribution to the debate on affordable housing”.

“Providing affordable homes is the Holy Grail for local councils and housing providers - but it is still one of the most difficult to achieve,” he said.

“However, BoKlok offers new solutions to the problem because it concentrates much of the actual building work offsite and that substantially reduces the cost.”

It is the first time flat-pack homes have been sold with their plots and demand is expected to be high. Ikea said it had already received a lot of interest from potential buyers.

First-time buyers earning between £15,000 and £35,000 will be prioritised.

Ikea hopes to expand the project to 12 more sites over the next 18 months.