LONDON - Barratt Developments Plc, George Wimpey UK and the SIXTYK Consortium have been selected by the government to build the £60,000 homes after their bids won in a competition conducted by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
The above named companies are the first ones to win the competition. Nine companies have been short-listed and the other winners will be announced in January, the ODPM said. Announcing the winners, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott said, "Our 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."
He added that the £60,000 home competition was unique in that it was bringing down the construction costs as well as "using publicly owned sites for development."
The first houses are scheduled to come up in Oxley Park, Milton Keynes and Renny Lodge, Newport Pagnell in Bucks, plus Allerton Bywater, Leeds, and Upton in Northampton. Barratt has chosen HTA as the architect for the competition, while the government's urban adviser, Lord Rogers is Wimpey's architect.
"The government is asking the industry for homes, more regeneration, more social housing, more skills training and more innovation - and we at Barratt are delivering on every one of these fronts," said Barratt chief executive, David Pretty. The work on the sites is to start in the spring and the houses should be ready for occupancy by next summer, according to informed sources.
But experts warn that though the houses cost £60,000, they would not be sold for the same amount since external costs will also be taken into consideration. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors estimates that the bill for fees and profits alone would hit £20,000 per home.
Posted
on : Sun, 06 Nov 2005 07:05 GMT | Mortgages News
By : Rob Davis
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