Plans have been unveiled for a super green and super cheap eco-village in West Leeds - this development will be the city’s first co-housing project.

Described as a futuristic energy-saving commune it will be almost completely self-sustaining with houses built primarily from straw bales, virtually no artificial heating and recycled rainwater running through the taps. The 20 homes in the LILAC development will comprise of individual units, from one bed flats to four-bedroom houses with communal gardens and some shared resources, including a car-share scheme.

Alan Thornton, director of LILAC, which was formerly known as the Leeds Eco-Village, said bosses were in “advanced negotiations” with Leeds City Council about a location for the project, but confirmed a site in west Leeds had been identified.

Max Comfort, from the UK Co-Housing Network, who lives in the UK’s first co-housing project Springhill in Stroud, Gloucestershire, said the authorities should subsidise more eco-villages or even gift land to green developments.

The LILAC houses will be sold under a Mutual Home Ownership Society structure. Each family will lease a house from the company and will become an equal shareholder, paying about 35 per cent of their income for their shares. The value will rise and fall in line with national average incomes, rather than the fluctuating housing market. There are currently just 10 co-housing communities completed in the UK according to the UK Co-Housing Network’s website, with about 20 in development. If the idea takes off in Leeds, they hope it will be replicated across the country.