The winning designs in the government’s Design for Manufacture competition have set new standards of excellence and pave the way for even further improvements to the way homes can be better designed and economically constructed.

The lessons learned will enable more high quality homes to be created, says a report to be published tomorrow (Friday 30^th).

Some of the lessons learnt explored in the publication include:

• Construction costs can be tamed without sacrificing quality – developers that closely linked their design, suppliers and delivery teams into a single process found savings.
• It is possible to achieve higher-density housing with houses, not just flats – developments built as a result of this competition will achieve densities of over 60 homes per hectare, mainly with houses. It’s proof that getting the design and development process right means it’s possible to have houses with gardens and parking spaces.
• Reducing construction costs doesn’t mean reducing size – the competition required all homes to be constructed for £60,000 to be a minimum of 76.5 sq m (823.46 sq ft). In fact, many of the homes could be built larger than this, some at around 88 sq m.
• Good home design can dramatically reduce energy bills – some of the winning designs are groundbreaking in terms of energy efficiency and have features that will help keep homes warm in winter and cool in summer.

Trevor Beattie, the English Partnerships director with responsibility for the competition said: "This publication pulls together all there is to know about Design for Manufacture, from why the challenge was so necessary, to what we’ve learnt and plans for the future."

"The competition pushed the boundaries of house building in the UK and we now need to look at ways to bring the lessons learned from this project into mainstream house building."