星空传媒

Regeneration agency English Partnerships is about to unveil the 拢60,000 houses announced by deputy prime minister John Prescott at last September鈥檚 Labour party conference.

The 拢60m Allerton Bywater millennium community is understood to be the first site for the homes, which could be ready for their new owners as early as this summer.

English Partnerships confirmed that 鈥渟ome鈥� of the off-site manufactured homes will cost 拢60,000 to build. This covers the costs of construction, but excludes land value.

Prescott used the September conference to call for housebuilders to rise to the challenge of building a two-bedroom house for 拢60,000.

The homes, designed by PRP Architects and for sale to first-time buyers, will meet full Secured By Design and Lifetime Homes standards and will gain 鈥渆xcellent鈥� ratings under the Eco Homes sustainability system.

One of the homes, not meant to represent the 拢60,000 housing, will be on show at the sustainable communities summit later this month before being moved to site.

Trevor Beattie, corporate strategy director for English Partnerships, said: 鈥淚 think the 拢60,000 is a challenge to the market. It can be done. The bigger challenge is to produce high-quality sustainable family homes at a price that the majority of families can afford. That鈥檚 what we are doing.鈥�

But he stressed that the real test was whether builders could increase the number of units produced off site. He said: 鈥淲e are challenging the builders to build more of them and we are challenging the mortgage lenders to recognise the quality of the product.

鈥淭he important thing about our house is the quality of the product. It is going to be more flexible, cheaper to live in, cheaper to construct and cheaper to buy.鈥�

Terry Fuller, chair of the affordable housing group at the House Builders Federation, said building 拢60,000 homes would not be a problem 鈥� but issues of quality and planning gain also come into play.

He said: 鈥淔or four walls and a roof outside London and the Home Counties, I don鈥檛 think there is a particular problem in achieving that [price]. The main problem is all the extras we are now required to put into a development.鈥�