English Partnerships has decided to extend the deadline for stage two of the Design for Manufacture competition, in response to shortlisted teams' concerns about the tight timescale for submitting detailed entries. Trevor Beattie, EP director of corporate strategy, broke the news to Housebuilder this afternoon. He said: "Bidders have told us they would like more time - not that they can't meet the deadline, but that this would enable them to submit better quality bids. "I met with the team administering the competition, and we talked to each of the shortlisted bidders, and we have taken the decision to move the deadline back two weeks to July 15. "I thought long and hard about this, but the competition is about quality, and we will get stronger submissions this way. I couldn't turn my back on that." The 33 shortlisted teams are currently working up their proposals for homes that can be built for £60,000; the winning entry will have the opportunity to develop homes on land provided by EP.