Barratt Developments has secured two of the first four sites to be developed under the government鈥檚 Design for Manufacture competition to build a 拢60,000 house.

The company will develop them at Allerton Bywater Millennium Village in West Yorkshire, and the urban extension to the Northamptonshire market town of Upton.

Barratt beat two other bidders to the contracts 鈥� Wimpey and consortium Northern Edge, which is made up of Redrow, Westbury and a group of northern housing associations.

Barratt will build a mix of dwellings from its modern methods of construction range, and prototypes of units that HTA Associates designed specifically for the competition.

At a conference last week, Jerome Frost, head of English Partnership鈥檚 national consultancy unit, said the regeneration agency was exploring ways to widen its portfolio of housing sites by making better use of under-used public sector properties.

The competition also includes sites at Newport Pagnall and Milton Keynes.

The Design for Manufacture Competition aims to demonstrate that it is possible to build a high-quality home for a cost of 拢60,000. This is a target construction cost, not a development cost or a sale price.

English Partnerships is running the competition for the ODPM, and sites for development by successful bidders will be provided by English Partnerships and other public bodies.