£23m deal signed for factory-built homes scheme

Modular housing company ilke Homes in partnership with housing provider Stonewater to deliver 120 factory-built affordable homes in Herefordshire in a £23m deal.

The 100% affordable housing development will see ilke Homes provide the land for development in addition to manufacturing the 120 houses in its 250,000 sq ft factory in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire.

Supported by Homes England, the currently derelict site, the former Holmer Trading Estate, will be transformed.

Upon completion, all the homes will be available for either affordable rent or shared ownership.

Matthew Bench, executive director of partnerships at ilke Homes, said: “The need for affordable housing has never been more acute, and with construction having been paused on sites up and down the country, speed will be absolutely vital. By packaging up private land with turnkey development solutions in partnership with housing associations such as Stonewater, we can quickly scale-up the delivery of high-quality, energy-efficient affordable housing across the country.”

“Our recent expansion into new regions gives us a greater national reach and with wide ranging offerings including providing superstructures, turnkey solutions and full land-led developments, we can truly drive the benefits that come from offsite manufacturing.”

Matthew Crucefix, director of development (West) at Stonewater, said: “Scaling-up the delivery of affordable homes is vital to ensuring that everyone in the UK has a place to call home. As we face the current coronavirus pandemic it has never been more important to do all we can to increase housing supply where it is safe to do so. This scheme is exactly the type of progressive development opportunity that will help meet the challenge we face to provide the affordable homes needed to tackle the housing crisis.

“Stonewater has demonstrated its agility in uncertain times by purchasing this land which has the benefit of an outline planning consent, we’re excited to be working up the reserved matters planning with ilke Homes and moving this project forward.”

Gordon More, chief investments officer at Homes England, said: “Our strategic partnerships with housing associations are an important part of our commitment to delivering more affordable homes across the country.

“Utilising modern methods of construction is crucial to building new homes at the pace required, so it’s fantastic to see Stonewater using their strategic partnership with Guinness to collaborate with a leading offsite manufacturer like ilke Homes.”

Law firm TLT advised Stonewater on the deal while Gateley advised ilke Homes.