Places for People has announced a pioneering joint venture with Ilke Homes to deliver hundreds of modular homes, as confidence in offsite construction (OSC) grows. In the largest deal yet for Britain’s modular housing sector, Places for People will purchase 750 units from ilke Homes,including 500 for sites it already owns and 250 for new schemes they will partner on to develop affordable and market-priced housing.

With 198,640 homes across the UK and some of the country's most significant regeneration projects, Places for People’s backing of OSC will be welcomed as property chiefs respond to calls to speed up delivery, improve quality and fend off a construction skills crisis.

The benefits of volumetric modular construction –where precision-engineered, factory-finished modules are assembled on-site –include:

- The light gauge steel construction-can be clad in traditional brick making it look like a traditionally constructed house

-  Development time on site is halved,meaning income can be generated far quicker as modular factories build the homes while foundations are dug and the site is being prepared

-  Significant reduction in snagging,thanks to dry and warm factory production and high quality control

-  Around 90 per cent less on site waste and 80 percent improvement in man-hour productivity

-   Ilke is the first modular manufacturer to be fully covered by NHBC warranty

Last July, Places for People was one of the first organisations to be awarded a grant from Homes England to deliver an additional 2,603 homes, as part of the agency’s strategic partnerships with eight ambitious housing associations.

Based in Yorkshire, ilke Homes has won a number of industry awards and accreditations, including a Sunday Times Best Home award.It was originally established by Keepmoat Homes, one of the UK’s leading housebuilders and has been able to draw upon the expertise of Algeco Group, a world leader in modular technology.

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