ICKNIELD Court care home will be demolished to make way for 20 low-cost homes, after a deal was struck to build another home on a former school site.

Housing Solutions, owners of the home on Wycombe Road, Princes Risborough, agreed with the town council to build a new home on the former Berryfield School.

The site is earmarked for community use, and the council had previously hoped that badly-needed affordable homes would be built there, along with a community centre.

Housing Solutions have agreed to build the houses on the Icknield Court site, and hopes to finish them in 2007.

The houses will include rented accommodation in the scheme.

Mayor of Princes Risborough, Gary Hall, said the town council hopes to give housing places to Risborough area people, in need of a place to live.

He said: "This is an excellent thing for the town. There have been some properties built in Bledlow recently which by all accounts were oversubscribed. The lack of housing has been causing a problem."

He added: "There are many hurdles to climb, not least from Wycombe District Council, who are expected to challenge strongly in order to get their own prospective tenants from around the district into properties."

A spokesman for Wycombe District Council said: "Wycombe District Council's current policy is that accomodation should go to appropriate households who are in the greatest need across the Wycombe District area. There is currently no agreement whereby accommodation can be restricted to people local to Princes Risborough.

"However, applicants are entitled to express their area of choice and experience indicates that, within our existing allocations policy, a significant amount of accommodation offered within the Princes Risborough area does go to local people."