PRIME Minister David Cameron made a surprise visit to Poole to announce plans to build 100,000 low-cost starter homes.

The premier arrived at the town's Magna Academy to unveil a plan which he said could help younger households into home ownership.

The Borough of Poole is one of nine councils which have pledged support to the scheme, along with a list of major developers and smaller builders.

The homes, designed to be low-cost but good quality, would be sold at a 20 per cent discount exclusively to first time buyers under 40.

Mr Cameron told the Daily Echo that the policy could help people in Dorset, with the average home in Poole costing more than 14 times the average local salary.

“We have to help and that's why I think these starter homes can help,” the Prime Minister said.

“Obviously we need affordable homes for rent as well and more council homes have been built under this government in the last four-and-a-half years than in the previous 13 combined.

“But many people in Poole and Dorset, young people working, want to buy their homes. So I think they'll welcome starter homes because this is bringing housing into a much more affordable way for people who have a job and can afford the mortgage payments.

“We're helping them get that mortgage now with the Help To Buy scheme because they don't need to get now the huge deposits that they did several years ago - and these starter homes will make the actual home you want to buy cheaper.”

The Prime Minister said 100,000 of the starter homes would be brought forward in the next parliament if the Conservatives won the general election.

Mr Cameron added: "Hard-working young people want to plan for the future and enjoy the security of being able to own their own home. I want to help them do just that.”

Labour's shadow housing minister Emma Reynolds said no one would believe Mr Cameron's promises on home ownership.

She said: "He said he would get Britain building but instead he has presided over the lowest levels of house building in peacetime since the 1920s.”

She added: "We are in favour of building starter homes but it is not clear how the government is going to deliver these homes 20 per cent cheaper than market price."

Ian Girling, chief executive of Dorset Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said economic recovery wa sunderway and that the county's buisnesses had emerged from the slump 'leaner and stronger'.

But he spoke of the need to remain upbeat and warned of the dangers of "talking ourselves into recession".

The Prime Minister visited a housing development on Blandford Road in Hamworthy to see where homes could be built as part of the new initiative he had announced.

Cllr Elaine Atkinson, leader of Borough of Poole, said that she was 'absolutely thrilled' that the Prime Minister visited Poole for his announcement.

“I've worked hard in my years as leader of the council to get Poole to not appear to be the 'poor relation to Bournemouth', but actually we're an entity in our own right,” she said.

“Now, I am feeling like all that hard work has paid off.

“I was asked a couple of weeks ago by the Prime Minister's representatives if we would be prepared to support the new starter home policy and I am delighted to do that.”

Poole MP Robert Syms said: “There is a lot of potential housing development here, which gives us the chance to point out what the opportunities are as we have one or two grants in to unblock the development. This will hopefully lead to more homes, more jobs and more prosperity for Poole.”

Julie and Stephen Rule and their daughter, Kathryn, met the Prime Minister while he was looking around the Inland Homes development.

Mrs Rule said that the family moved into their three-bedroom home in July this year. "The Prime Minister asked if we liked our new home and we said that we did,” she said.

Husband Stephen added: "David Cameron was very pleasant. I shook his hand as well and then he was happy for us to have our picture taken with him. I would say that I am a fan of his.”

The Prime Minister's visit was kept secret until the last minute, when a heavy police presence heralded his arrival at Magna Academy.

The academy's principal, Richard Tutt, had only been told on Friday that the premier would be coming to the school on Monday.

Mr Cameron was given a short tour of part of the building and met several students ahead of his speech to an audience of business people.

Magna Academy replaced the former Ashdown Technology College last year.

Mr Cameron paid tribute to the school at the start of his speech, saying: “What sponsored academies like yours have achieved is one of the most important things happening under this government.

“You see results transformed, your see children's lives turned around, you see communities better served by schools like this.

“I want to congratulate the whole leadership here at the academy and also the students who work so hard. You have already seen your results go shooting up. I know you want them to go even further and I think you should be really proud of what you've achieved.”

The academy's principal, Richard Tutt, said ahead of the Prime Minister's speech: “We are really, really, proud that the academy has been chosen to host this event and that we were able to showcase our wonderful studio and our wonderful facilities.

“The academy replaced a school that was previously in special measures for a long period of time and since that time there has been a real transformation in the student expectations and outcomes at the academy.”

Among the locals who were surprised to see the Prime Minister was Echo reader Ian Kirk, who tweeted of “that surreal moment when you collect your daughter from Poole station and David Cameron gets off as well”.

David Cameron rounded on cabinet colleague Vince Cable during his Poole visit.

Mr Cable, the Liberal Democrat business secretary, had said a Conservative election victory would “destroy public services in this country in the way we know them”.

With the government's spending settlement for councils due to be announced shortly, Mr Cameron said the minister's comments were “completely wrong”.

“What local government has shown over the last four and a half years is that actually it can do more with less,” he said.

He added: “What we're envisaging is that the share of the economy taken up by public spending will be broadly the same as it was in about 1999, two years after a Labour government.

“You have a choice in politics. We're saying let's try to address the large costs of the welfare bill because every penny we save on welfare is a penny that we can spend on the NHS or on schools. The other parties don't seem to be willing to touch the welfare bill even though there are signs of excess in some areas.”

During his speech at the Magna Academy, he sought to portray next May's general election as a choice between “competence and chaos”.