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Greenwich strikes £300m deal for 750 affordable offsite homes
The London Borough of Greenwich has agreed a deal worth £300m for 750 modular homes for affordable rent to be built across 60 sites in the area.
The £300m project, which the offsite manufacturer Ideal Homes claims is the biggest deal of its kind between a council and an offsite developer, will run for five years, with an option of a five-year extension.
The contract will be delivered through an alliance agreement between developer A&E Elkins, offsite manufacturer Ideal Homes and architecture firm Shedkm. The modular homes will be manufactured offsite by Ideal Homes with the London-based firm A&E Elkins building the homes onsite.
All the homes will be carbon positive, reducing their impact on the environment and cutting costs for residents, according to Ideal.
Ideal said that the modular homes can be manufactured in just four days and installed on site in just eight hours, minimising disruption to the surrounding residents and cutting the delivery programme time by up to 50%.
The first of the homes for council tenants are expected to be on site before the end of 2020.
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Luke Barnes, co-founder and chief executive of Ideal Modular Homes, said: “Ideal is delighted to be a part of such an exciting project and alliance.
“Councils are under constant pressure to deliver affordable housing at a reduced cost, while still delivering on quality.
“This joint venture will see that beautifully designed high-quality homes can be delivered in half the time that traditional methods would.”
The agreement comes after City Hall called for more modular homes to be built in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
It marks the latest in an increasing number of agreements between social landlords and modular developers to deliver affordable homes.
Last month housing association Orbit and modular housing company Ilke Homes agreed a partnership that would see the latter deliver homes for the social landlord in the West Midlands.
Boklok, a modular developer owned by Ikea and construction firm Skanska, agreed deals with Worthing and Bristol councils in February to deliver 400 affordable homes across the two areas.
Anthony Okereke, cabinet member for housing at Greenwich Council, said: “Employing modular techniques as part of our Greenwich Builds programme is allowing us to quickly deliver the high-quality and sustainable council homes so badly needed in our borough.
“With plans for construction on 750 new homes to be under way by 2022, we’re excited to be at the forefront of delivering innovative zero-carbon council properties, making good on Royal Greenwich’s commitments to tackling both the housing crisis and climate change.”
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