CIVIC chiefs has revealed plans to create hundreds of new jobs at a factory to build “modular” or “prefab” homes on a former car factory site.

Southampton City Council has teamed up with Solent Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) to invest £6m in a manufacturing plant at the former Ford site in Swaythling, which closed in 2013.

The factory would make basic frames for a mixture of modular prefab homes.

City council leader Simon Letts said: “This could create hundreds of jobs – it could be 200, 300 or 400 – but this is only the early stages so we are not sure.”

Under the plans, the city council, which will put £2m into the scheme, will part-own the plant along with other private companies.

The council has already had discussions with Hampshire-based 24/7 Living and national firm LQ Housing.

More than 8,000 people are currently on the housing waiting list in Southampton, and Cllr Letts claims this will ease the crisis.

He said: “The project not only employs Southampton people but delivers homes for Southampton people with the council as a landlord.

“The scheme will benefit the Southampton economy as part of our commitment to supplying houses to Southampton people on sites including Townhill Park.

“It’s a way of bringing more houses into the system than big builders actually provide at the moment.”

Councillor Sean Woodward, a director of Solent LEP, added: “It’s fantastic news and I congratulate the city council; it will benefit the Solent economy which under-performs compared with the rest of south east England.”

“Prefab housing is an alternative method which will provide a more cost-effective and more affordable housing in the south Hampshire area.”

The flatpack factory plan is the latest addition to the former Ford site.

Mountpark bought the 2.2 hectare site in 2015 and started its redevelopment in January. The factory will join Jaguar Land Rover, which has plans to develop an 18-car showroom and service centre on the site, creating up to 130 new jobs, and Murray Health, a global health and beauty accessory distributor, which employs hundreds of workers at its factory in Chandler’s Ford which has plans for a 47,000sqft premises.

Gary Jeffries, chairman of the Solent LEP, added: “Southampton City Council’s new factory is great news; we are proud to support such a scheme which focuses on modern construction methods for the development of housing.”

However, Royston Smith, Tory MP for Southampton Itchen, expressed concern, branding the concept too ambitious, saying “The jobs side is fantastic news and will help to develop the area, however I’m concerned that the city council housing plan isn’t being addressed properly.

“Sites including Townhill Park and Harefield, which aren’t yet completed, need to be sorted first. This shows the lack of commitment the council is showing, which could prove difficult for this development.”

The site, off Wide Lane in Swaythling, was closed in 2013 after Ford revealed controversial plans to move to production to Turkey, leading to the loss of 500 jobs and seeing the end of 41 years of Transit production in the city.

If the plans are approved, construction could start in December 2018.