03/11/2005

Firms get go-ahead for first £60,000 homes

The first four successful bids to design £60,000 homes for the government have been announced.

The successful firms and consortia – Barratt Developments plc, George Wimpey UK and the SIXTYK Consortium – were picked by national regeneration agency, English Partnerships to build their homes on four of ten publicly-owned competition sites, after being successful in the government’s ‘Design for Manufacture’ scheme.

The Design for Manufacture is part of the government’s commitment to deliver decent, affordable homes, in order to help those currently unable to afford their own homes, to get onto the property ladder.

The first four competition sites will see the creation of more than 500 homes, with at least 30% of homes on each site being built to a construction cost of £60,000. The competition will see the construction of more than 1,000 new properties, overall.

The key features of the chosen homes include flexible floorplans, ‘eco-hats’ – central lanterns built into the roofs of homes to help manage heat more effectively – built in surveillance and accessibility.

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott said: "People's sons and daughters are finding it increasingly difficult to get a foot on the housing ladder and we need to do all we can to make sure they are not denied the opportunity of a decent, affordable home of their own in future.

“The £60,000 home competition is breaking new ground, bringing down construction costs and using publicly-owned sites for development. As well as the new homes that will be delivered through the competition, the lessons learned will influence thousands more developments in future.”

The construction of the first homes is expected to begin in Spring 2006. The preferred bidders for a further six sites are expected to be announced in January. Sites for the next phase of the competition include Aylesbury Vale, Dartford, Hastings, Basingstoke, Maidstone and Merton in London.

(KMcA/SP)

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