Barratt will build its design on sites in Leeds and Northampton

Three firms will build their designs on four publicly-owned sites in England, following a competition set up by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

The scheme - aiming to show good design and quality can be cost efficient - involves ten sites and 1,000 new homes.

Nine shortlisted firms have been bidding for the sites, and the other winners will be announced in January.

Construction of the first homes are expected to start in spring 2006.

Lessons learned

The first four successful companies and consortia to have won bids for specific sites are Barratt Developments plc, George Wimpey UK and the SIXTYK Consortium.

They were picked by regeneration agency English Partnerships to build their homes after being successful in the 'Design for Manufacture' challenge set.

Wimpey has the go-ahead to build at Oxley Park, Milton Keynes

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott said the�60,000 home competition was "breaking new ground" by bringing down construction costs and using publicly-owned sites for development.

"People's 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 in future.

"As well as the new homes that will be delivered through the competition, the lessons learned will influence thousands more developments in future," he said.

The sites developed will include a mix of different types of homes including apartments and houses, sale and rental homes. Around a third will be made available for first time buyers.

At least 30% of homes on each site will be built to a construction cost of �60,000.

When the final shortlist of firms was announced in August the scheme attracted criticism from opposition parties.

Shadow local government spokeswoman Caroline Spelman said the public was being "spun a line" by the government.

The SIXTYK Consortium's homes for Newport Pagnell have 'eco-hats'

"The grim reality is that the homes are in less than desirable locations - such as next door to mines, prisons and landfill - and are all on contaminated land."

She said the end sale prices would be six figure sums each, and only a mere 300 homes will be affordable.

Meanwhile Liberal Democrat Sarah Teather said the building of around 1,000 homes would bring little comfort Britain's 100,000 homeless families and those living in overcrowded housing.

Mr Prescott said he was under pressure to build on previously developed land, and said it was right that the government was building again in cities.

Features of the winning homes that attracted the judges included flexible floorplans that can adapt, such as the Barratt house with a room in the roof and double height living room, and homes with no internal structural walls.

Wimpey and SIXTYK included 'eco-hats' in their designs which are built into the roofs of homes to help manage heat more effectively.

Built-in surveillance and accessibility were also key factors.

Other sites for which developers are yet to be selected are in Aylesbury Vale, Dartford, Hastings, Basingstoke, Maidstone and Merton in south London.