PLANNING bosses are considering proposals to build more than 1,500 eco-friendly "pod" homes above Oxford's park and ride sites.

The two-storey flats would sell for between £50,000 to £60,000 and have been suggested as a low-cost way for young people to get on the housing ladder.

Complete with solar panel roofs, water recycling systems and electric vehicle charging points, assembly would take less than a week on site because they are pre-fabricated.

The architect behind the idea, Bill Dunster, says his firm has approached Oxford City Council about setting up a trial of almost 50 of the homes and offered to pay for it.

Yesterday the council's executive board member for planning Alex Hollingsworth told the Oxford Mail: "The city council is always open to innovative ideas that can make a contribution to tackling the housing crisis – we will carefully consider any plausible proposal."

Mr Dunster urged the city council to "hurry up" and decide, claiming he could take his idea elsewhere if councillors did not get behind it soon.

His firm, ZED Factory, specialises in low-carbon developments and has designed schemes for the Peabody Trust in London and the Sir Arthur Ellis family trust in Newport.

Mr Dunster said: "These homes are built to a better standard and are more carefully designed than most developments in the city.

"They also allow you to take expansive tarmac and build homes for key workers who cannot afford to live there because it is too expensive... and they are next to existing transport links.

"It is about time Oxford shows some leadership in this field.

"We have raised enough money and given the city council the first chance to try this but we are also talking to other local authorities.

"If the council doesn't hurry up, we will just go somewhere else."

The proposal was backed by Craig Simmons, group leader of the city council Green Party and scrutiny committee chairman, who claimed it ticked "all the boxes".

He added: "This is well thought-through scheme. It would be foolish for the city council to turn down the offer of a trial."

The proposals come after Oxford Smart Housing, another group of architects, planners, landowners and investors, suggested building a series of small but efficient "smart homes" in East Oxford and Cowley.

They want to build the 50sqm flats at the sports ground off William Morris Close, where it is thought 70 units could be built, and Cave Street, where 14 units could be built.

Aimed at young workers, these would be sold only to first-time buyers at 20 per cent below the market rate.

The city council said it would not consider such developments because they were not planned to include any social housing, but the local authority has just begun a review of all its planning policies.