ilke Homes partners with emh group to deliver 42 affordable homes on former-Network Rail land.

Leading modular housing company ilke Homes has agreed a deal with emh group for the delivery of an affordable-led scheme in Beeston, Nottinghamshire.

The two companies have partnered together for the first time to deliver 42 affordable homes on a vacant brownfield site next to Beeston station. 

As part of sweeping reforms to the planning system, the Government is encouraging the redevelopment of brownfield sites to bring new investment into areas and increase housing delivery.

ilke Homes acquired the site from Network Rail, the owners and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in the UK, in July.

The modular housing company will act as a full ‘turnkey’ developer as part of the deal. This means emh group can purchase a complete development sourced and delivered by ilke Homes. The announcement represents a further step in ilke Homes’ move to becoming a fully-integrated housing developer, meaning ilke Homes acquires land, secures planning permission, manufactures the homes and develops the sites.

ilke Homes’ full ‘turnkey’ offering was added to the business last year and sits alongside its ‘homes only’ offering, where ilke Homes solely manufactures homes and delivers them to site for a developer.

Subject to planning permission, a mix of two and three-bedroom homes will be delivered on the 2.2-acre site in Beeston, all of which will be made available for either affordable rent or shared ownership. Residents at the new development will benefit from excellent commuter links thanks to the site’s close proximity to Beeston station

All of the homes will be precision-engineered along production lines at ilke Homes’ 250,000 sq. ft factory in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire. By manufacturing offsite, ilke Homes is able to provide affordable housing providers with many benefits, including:

• • Speed: Homes are delivered in half the time of traditional methods, meaning companies such as emh group can access revenue streams at the earliest point possible while speeding up the delivery of much-needed affordable housing for local communities
  • Sustainability: ilke Homes’ modular homes exceed current and soon-to-be-introduced building regulations, avoiding the need for costly retrofitting programmes down the line and ensuring residents can heat their homes more cheaply. The homes at the site in Beeston can be powered on as a little as £1-a-day
  • Standardisation: Modular homes are created along production lines using standardised processes, similar to the automotive industry, meaning homes are consistently delivered to the highest standards. This also helps local planners better understand the product and give them faith that quality will be consistent throughout a scheme
  • Flexibility: Cutting-edge technology deployed along ilke Homes’ production lines enables the company to offer clients a range of different aesthetics and designs that match local character and vernacular 

 

 

Homes England has been championing modular housing as a solution to speeding up the delivery of affordable housing across the UK. Last year, the Government’s national housing agency announced that housing associations looking to sign deals under the new £11.5 billion Affordable Housing Programme will have to commit to using modern methods of construction (MMC) to deliver at least a quarter of their pipelines. 

emh group is a Wave 1 Strategic Partner with Homes England.

A decision on ilke Homes’ planning application for the 42 homes in Beeston is expected in March with remedial work starting on site in August. The first modular homes are expected to be installed onsite in January 2022.

Narvinder Khossa, group partnerships director at ilke Homes, says:

“It’s great to kick off what we hope will be a long-standing partnership with emh group. The precision-engineering techniques we deploy throughout our manufacturing process means the homes we are delivering in Beeston will be some of the UK’s most energy-efficient. 

“This is important as tighter, greener building regulations – which will be ushered in in 2025 as part of the Government’s Future Buildings Standard – means a lot of the homes being built in the UK right now will have to be retrofitted in a few years. All of the homes that roll off our production lines achieve at least a ‘B’ Energy Performance Certificate rating, enabling us to help our partners avoid huge retrofitting costs later down the line.”

Chris Jones, Executive Director of Development at emh group, says:

“With over one million families on council waiting lists and affordability levels reaching record lows, there has never been a more important time to speed up the delivery of high-quality affordable housing.

“By partnering with ilke Homes, we can provide the local community with more affordable housing in half the time that traditional methods would be able to. And thanks to standardised processes, we can be rest assured that all of 42 modular homes will be delivered to the highest of quality – meaning they are a joy to live in from day one for our residents.”

-ENDS-

Notes to editors

About ilke Homes

ilke Homes is a modular housing company helping to tackle the UK’s growing housing shortage by delivering high-quality, energy-efficient homes in half the time of traditional methods. The company works closely with local authorities, housing associations and developers across the UK to deliver housing for a mix of tenures. In 2019, the company entered into a £100m joint venture with Places for People, the largest deal yet for Britain’s modular housing sector. www.ilkehomes.co.uk

Additional notes to editors

• Much of Beeston is undergoing redevelopment, with a £50m redevelopment of Beeston Square – including an eight-screen Arc cinema, 132 homes and space for a number of restaurants and bars – given the green light in May