RINGWOOD could be offered the opportunity to increase the amount of affordable housing in the town.

At a full town council meeting on Wednesday members were due to hear about a new scheme offering community-led housing - spearheaded by the New Forest District Council.

The district council has been awarded £976,387 of the Community Housing Fund which needs to be delivered in two phases - the first year of which should be used to improve technical skills, setting up support hubs offering advice, business planning and providing staff to review local housing needs. The following years must then be spent delivering housing on the ground for local people.

But town clerk Terry Simpson said Ringwood Town Council must act quickly to take advantage of the scheme.

Mr Simpson told the Daily Echo it was a chance "to see if there's an opportunity to get some community-led housing in the town".

"I am not sure what the response will be from members," he said. "I don't know if they will be interested but I know that they want to see some more affordable housing in the town and this is a route that might offer that opportunity."

Community-led housing can cover a range of options where local organisations set up and run by ordinary people to develop and manage homes as well as other assets important to that community. It includes co-housing - self-contained homes with a managed community - often attractive to older people; group self-builds and custom builds; a housing cooperative - enabling tenants to manage and control their homes leading to efficiencies and financial savings; or empty properties, often effective for providing work experience and training to people from vulnerable backgrounds.

Mr Simpson said that in the event councillors choose to take up the scheme there will be a lot of work in the immediate future. It is not yet clear how much of the funds Ringwood would be eligible to apply for.

"We are going to have to do quite a bit of work in some detail and then we will need to take it to community organisations in the town," he said.

"This very much needs to be developed by the community groups rather than the town council."