St. Modwen Homes, has installed two new modular homes at its Victoria Park development in Stoke-on-Trent. The installation of the new homes, which were manufactured offsite by government-backed ilke Homes, marks the first time the multi-award winning housebuilder has delivered modular homes.
Similar to how cars are created, ilke Homes manufactured houses along a production line at the company’s factory in Yorkshire. Backed by the same National House-Building Council (NHBC) Build Mark 10-year warranty that traditional homes offer, the new properties at Victoria Park are fully mortgageable and insurable. Thanks to a controlled-factory environment, the new homes are also twice as energy-efficient as the average UK home. This means that residents can save hundreds of pounds a year on heating bills, with the new homes costing as little as £1 a day to run.
At Victoria Park, the six completed modules were delivered to site with windows and doors already pre-fitted and the internal fixtures and fittings installed. Once there, the modules were craned into position onto the foundations and were then connected to the prepared services, which helped to reduce the on site construction time.
Stewart Court, Design Manager at St. Modwen Homes, said:
“Following the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s (MCHLG) pledge to deliver 300,000 new homes per year through new build innovation, St. Modwen Homes spent six months researching modern methods of construction. We wanted to be one of the first housebuilders to utilise modular homes at one of our developments, and we found that Victoria Park was ideal for us to incorporate modular units.
“We identified where we wanted to build the modular homes early in the planning stage, which helped us to coordinate with ilke Homes to ensure the delivery of the modular units met with our build programme.
“Modular construction at St. Modwen Homes was certainly an exciting learning experience and gave us full insight into the processes, as well as how it can be integrated into a traditionally-built housing development. We see modular building as being a way of helping to tackle any potential skills shortages, whilst at the same time reacting to increasing housing demand. Victoria Park is unique in that it will always be remembered as our first scheme to comprise modular homes.”
