ºÃÉ«ÏÈÉúTV

The three winners of this year's Housing Design Awards, announced this week, are an addition to Manchester's growing collection of upmarket residences, a modest block of special needs flats in south London and timber-clad prefabs in seaside Essex.

Another 11 awards were won by unbuilt schemes, including a yuppie flat conversion in Liverpool and a sustainable low-rise housing development in Greenwich's millennium village.

Most of the award-winning architects and developers are newcomers to the housing world. Manchester's Stephenson Bell Architects walked off with three of the 14 principal awards, while Walter Menteth Architects and Allford Hall Monaghan Morris Architects bagged two each. The Peabody Trust won two awards, and Urban Splash picked up another.

This year's award scheme reveals a growing private sector interest in architectural design. Of the 194 schemes submitted, two-thirds came from housebuilders. A similar proportion of awards was won by private developers and public–private partnerships.

The annual Housing Design Awards are run jointly by the Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions, the National House ºÃÉ«ÏÈÉúTV Council, the Royal Town Planning Institute and the RIBA. The three completed schemes are shown below. The last five years' winning schemes can all be seen on www.designforhomes.org/hda.