Ikea is preparing for the upcoming launch of its affordable home scheme which cuts estate agents out of the home buying process.

Operating under the name BoKlok, Ikea is working in partnership with Swedish construction firm Skanska and management service Home Group to create a development of pre-fabricated homes in Gateshead, north-east England, aimed at young buyers earning salaries of between £15,000 and £35,000 per year in mind.

Those interested in buying will not go through the traditional estate agency process, instead being asked to enter a lottery in a local branch of Ikea or online for a chance to purchase one of the flats, with BoKlok''s managing director, Alan Prole, telling the Daily Telegraph the firm expected to repeat the success it had with similar projects in Sweden.

"We anticipate that we will have significantly more interested people than we have units," he told the newspaper.

Buyers will also have to give full details of their finances and will be made aware that should they decide to sell the property, the firm will choose a suitable buyer.