Leading modular housing company ilke Homes will deliver 25 factory-built affordable homes to Wellesbourne, Warwickshire for Orbit Homes.
The first deal of this wider partnership will see ilke Homes deliver superstructures, with Orbit managing on site development.
Orbit, which creates and builds diverse, multi-tenure developments across the Midlands, East and south east of England, opted to use modern methods of construction (MMC) due to the significant speed, quality and energy-efficiency benefits that offsite manufacturing delivers. Orbit is increasing its procurement of modular homes, following a successful pilot scheme in March, and ilke Homes is its first modular housing partner.
The deal marks ilke Homes’ first development in Warwickshire and follows recent Midlands schemes including developments in the towns of Beeston and Arnold in Nottingham. ilke Homes has ramped up its Midlands presence with the company’s recent regional expansion, which saw it open new offices in Birmingham, London and Bristol in June, in addition to its Knaresborough office.
The homes will be manufactured at ilke Homes’ 250,000 sq ft factory in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, before being completed on the Wellesbourne site. Groundworks on the site are expected to commence in August 2020 with the first home being delivered onsite in October of the same year.
Orbit, who was recently named a top 10 developer of affordable homes in a recent housebuilder survey across the UK, currently provides housing to around 45,000 households and since 2013 it has built 12,000 affordable new homes.
Andrew McDermott, Managing Director for Orbit Homes in the Midlands, said: “Ensuring our homes are good quality, affordable and safe is key for Orbit and we are keen to reduce our carbon footprint through the use of modern methods of construction. We see modular housing as an important part of the future of housing in the UK and are excited to work with ilke Homes as our first partner.
Over 80% of Orbit Homes are rated EPC C or above and we continue to look at ways in which we can provide housing that reduces our impact on the environment and provides our customers with energy efficient homes. Modular Housing assists us to deliver against our environmental objectives whilst continuing to provide high quality homes.”
The deal follows ilke Homes’ partnership with Stonewater, which will see the delivery of 120 factory-built affordable homes to Hereford in a £23m deal.
Matthew Bench, executive director of partnerships at ilke Homes, said: “Scaling-up the country’s delivery of affordable housing is clearly crucial, but more than anything it is about speed, quality and partnering with forward thinking housebuilders such as Orbit. This scheme will be delivered in roughly half the time of traditional construction, and with the homes precision-engineered in our Yorkshire factory, they will benefit from superior air tightness and energy-efficiency.”
“The government has placed an increased emphasis on the reduction of carbon emissions and sustainable design and construction of new homes. By using MMC, we are able to deliver homes that are already some of the most sustainable in the country. It is testament to this fact that Orbit Homes has now taken a strategic step-change as it embraces modern methods to deliver much-needed, energy-efficient affordable housing.”