The government’s Design for Manufacture homes are getting underway. More than 300 homes have been designed and received planning permission, with development work now starting on site.

Almost 700 homes will also be created across another eight competition sites, said the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

The Design for Manufacture competition invited builders to produce good-quality and innovative homes on government released land at a cost of less than £60,000 each.

Construction work will soon begin on sites at Allerton Bywater, near Leeds and Upton, Northampton by Barratt Developments Plc.

The Design for Manufacture competition is being run on behalf of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister by English Partnerships. Their corporate strategy director, Trevor Beattie, said: "The fact we are ready to start construction works on two sites within a year of the competition being launched illustrates just what can be achieved by the private and public sectors working together."

"We set tight deadlines for this challenge and have proved they can be met without sacrificing quality."

"I’m looking forward to seeing the first phases of these exciting new developments being completed over the coming months."

Across the two sites, 96 homes will be built for a construction cost of £60,000. The remainder will be a mix of smaller and larger homes constructed with similar cost efficiencies. A minimum of 30 per cent of homes on each competition site will be built to a construction cost of £60,000.

Each of the developments will create mixed-tenure communities, including homes for sale, rent, social housing and for first time buyers under a shared equity scheme.

The home designs are innovative with features such as high energy efficiency and flexible layouts.

Planning applications are currently being submitted for the remaining competition sites. It is anticipated that the use of detailed development briefs will play a key role in helping these applications move swiftly through the planning system. English Partnerships has been working closely with the relevant local councils to develop briefs designed to help developers know what is acceptable to local planning authorities.