Places for People, one of Britain’s biggest housing associations, has announced a £100m pioneering joint venture with ilke Homes to deliver hundreds of modular homes, as confidence in offsite manufacturing (OSM) grows.
In the largest deal yet for Britain’s modular housing sector, Places for People will purchase 750 units from ilke Homes, including 500 for sites it already owns and 250 for new schemes it will partner on to develop affordable and market-priced housing.
David Cowans, chief executive of Places for People, said: “This is just the start for offsite manufacturing and as placemakers, we are going to invest even more in modular. We will implement efficient processes and new design techniques which not only raise the bar for the industry – but crucially, give people across the country affordable homes to live in.
“Our partnership is about pioneering a new way of delivering homes and disrupting the market through making socially-responsible decisions and working with best-in-class partners to improve quality, speed up housing delivery and minimise environmental impact.”
With 198,640 homes across the UK and some of the country’s most significant regeneration projects, Places for People’s backing of OSM will be welcomed as property chiefs respond to calls to speed up delivery, improve quality and fend off a construction skills crisis.
Last July, Places for People was one of the first organisations to be awarded a grant from Homes England to deliver an additional 2,603 homes, as part of the agency’s strategic partnerships with eight ambitious housing associations.
Based in Yorkshire, ilke Homes has won a number of industry awards and accreditations, including a Sunday TimesBest Home award. It was originally established by Keepmoat Homes, one of the UK’s leading housebuilders and has been able to draw upon the expertise of Algeco Group, a world leader in modular technology.
Minister of state for housing, Kit Malthouse MP, said: “This is excellent news as the UK blazes a trail in the modern methods of construction that are transforming home building.
“Today’s announcement supports our urgent mission to deliver more, better and faster home construction to ensure a new generation can realise the dream of home ownership.”
Dave Sheridan, executive chairman at ilke Homes, said: “Ride-hailing apps have replaced standing in the rain to flag taxis, so it makes sense that we embrace the benefits of manufacturing homes in dry factories. A mature OSM market could create an ‘Uber moment’ for construction, speeding up delivery, cutting cost and giving our customers unrivalled choice and quality.
“Our deal with Places for People will help continue to grow our capacity and is a huge vote of confidence in modular housing and Homes England deserves huge praise for its entrepreneurial approach to accelerating delivery.”
