New modular housing factory aims to build 5,000 homes a year
A modular housing factory in Knaresborough has opened, which aims to build 2,000 new homes a year at the factory within the next 24 months.
Ilke Homes also plans to scale up and produce 5,000 homes per year in the next five years. It has created more than 250 local jobs across ilke Homes’ manufacturing and supply chain, design and engineering teams.
The housebuilder plans to expand its Yorkshire workforce with a further 500 high-quality jobs set to be available over the next five years.
The state-of-the-art factory in Yorkshire uses innovative, modern methods of construction to build eight modular homes every day and specialises in the latest off-site manufacturing techniques. The high-quality, energy efficient homes are transported to developments across the country and once on site, can be installed at a rate of six homes a day – cutting the time a traditional build programme takes in half in order to deliver housing to those who need it most.
Communities Secretary Rt Hon James Brokenshire officially opened the new 25,000m2 modular homes factory.
Björn Conway, CEO of ilke Homes said: “We’re proud to officially open our first house building factory in the UK; delivering much needed, energy-efficient housing that will assist developers, local councils and housing associations responding to the current housing shortage.
“The Government has called for the use of innovative new technology in the housebuilding industry in order to meet housing targets, and the modern methods of construction used to create our modular homes have been recognised as one of the most viable ways to do this.
“We’ve already got an established pipeline of 1,000 homes for 2019, and are working in partnership with local authorities, housing associations and developers to ensure that there is a steady supply of affordable housing available across the UK for those who need it most.”
RT Hon James Brokenshire, Communities Secretary added: “The precision engineered homes are assembled on a highly efficient flow line. Homes are fully mortgageable and tenure blind, being fully adaptable to both private market and housing association requirements for all forms of sale and rent.”
