Places for People and ilke Homes strike two-development deal to deliver 472 homes.
Places for People and ilke Homes strike two-development deal to deliver 472 homes
- Deal sees Places for People forward-purchase homes across two schemes in Sussex and Exeter
- This follows the two companies entering a record-breaking strategic partnership in 2019
- House prices in Exeter and Sussex have reached record highs, meaning delivering more high-quality affordable housing in both regions is vital
Places for People, one of Britain’s leading placemaking organisations, has announced a pioneering partnership with ilke Homes to deliver hundreds of modular homes in the South East and South West, as confidence in offsite manufacturing (OSM) grows.
Following the largest deal yet for Britain’s modular housing sector in 2019, ilke Homes and Places for People have struck a two-development deal that will see the delivery of 472 affordable homes.
With more than 219,000 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.
As part of the agreement and subject to planning permissions, Places for People will purchase two sites: a 307-home development in Burgess Hill, Sussex; and a 165-home development in Exmouth Junction, Exeter.
Both developments will provide a range of apartments and two, three and four-bedroom affordable homes, which will be managed by Places for People and available for affordable rent or for sale through shared ownership.
Delivering more affordable homes in Exeter and Sussex is vital, with housing prices rising 7% and 14% respectively in the last year alone. Average asking prices in Exeter currently stand at £300,521, while prices in Sussex have reached £421,075.
Scott Black, Group Executive Director – Developments, at Places for People, said: “By adopting modern methods of construction (MMC), our partnership with a proven modular business such as ilke Homes allows us to create more affordable, well-designed mixed-tenure communities across the country – speeding up delivery, cutting costs and giving our customers unrivalled choice and quality. The partnership is about pioneering a new way of delivering homes through making socially-responsible decisions and working with best-in-class partners.
“Our investment in modular housing across our developments and the proposed acquisition and delivery of Exmouth Junction and Burgess Hill forms an integral part of Places for People’s ambitious growth strategy to deliver high quality affordable homes which meet people’s needs.”
Dave Sheridan, Executive Chairman at ilke Homes, said: “We are extremely pleased to have secured these sizeable opportunities which demonstrate our continued investment and expansion across the South-East and South-West regions. These transactions mark a significant achievement for our modular business, with Burgess Hill being the largest for our business in both GDV and volume for a forward-sold turn-key delivery package on a single site. Exmouth Junction is similarly the largest site to date secured and packaged in the SW region. We are proud to be delivering these homes in partnership with Places for People, making a considerable and accelerated contribution to the availability of affordable homes nationwide.”
The news of the deal, which comes two years after ilke Homes entered a strategic partnership with Places for People, follows last month’s announcement that the modular housing pioneer has been selected by FTSE 100 firm Boots UK to deliver the UK’s largest low-rise modular housing development – a 622-home scheme in Beeston, Nottingham. The deal marked the first time the retailer had released any part of its Nottingham HQ site holdings for housing.
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.
Places for People is a strategic partner with Homes England. In 2018, Places for People was one of the first organisations to be awarded a grant from Homes England and will deliver circa 6,000 affordable homes over the next 10 years through this partnership.
Homes England has also 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.
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About Places for People
Places for People is a leading affordable homes-led placemaker that believes places work when they work for everyone. We design homes, places and communities for the long term that are sustainable economically, socially and environmentally. We take a commercial approach to delivering social value and making a difference.
The Places for People Group’s award-winning placemaking, property investment, development and management companies own or manage more than 219,616 homes, operates over 100 leisure facilities, has assets of £4.9bn, and will deliver circa 6,000 affordable homes over the next 10 years through its partnership with Homes England.
About ilke Homes
ilke Homes is a modular housing company helping to tackle the UK’s growing housing shortage by manufacturing and 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 strategic partnership with Places for People, the largest deal yet for Britain’s modular housing sector and received a £30m investment from the government’s housing agency, Homes England. www.ilkehomes.co.uk
The benefits of offsite manufacturing – where homes are created in factories – include:
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- Quality: The precision-engineering techniques employed in the factory mean that the finish of every home is to an exceptional standard and with no snagging issues
- Sustainability: All of ilke’s homes achieve the highest EPC ratings, either an ‘A’ or ‘B’, avoiding the need for costly retrofitting programmes later down the line once new building regulation come into force post-2025
- Design: State-of-the-art technology allows ilke Homes to offer a range of different designs which can be customised to meet individual buyer needs, as well as a range of facades that allow a home to react to local vernacular
- Speed: Short and certain construction programmes mean homes are delivered in half the time of traditional methods, helping to speed up the delivery of much-needed housing for the local community
- Disruption: By completing the construction process offsite, disruption to residents and local businesses is minimised significantly due to less lorry movements, dust and noise in factories