£9m to fund modular homes on London buildings

Communities secretary James Brokenshire has announced £9m in funding to put new modular homes on top of London buildings.

Brokenshire announced the funds, which will be distributed through Homes England, in a speech to the Building London Summit 2019 this week.

Brokenshire said: "[This is] an exciting venture that will see homes constructed offsite and then transported to five sites across the city - and that demonstrates our commitment to working with diverse developers to promote innovation and deliver for London."

The funding is part of a wider package of £497m to building 11,000 affordable homes across the capital, also announced by Brokenshire in his speech.

Commenting on the news, Björn Conway, CEO of modular home builder Ilke Homes said: "Communities Secretary James Brokenshire's £500 million affordable housing funding boost is welcome news for housing associations and organisations working with the government to provide much-needed homes across the country.

"If we are to come anywhere close to building the three million new social homes that will be required by 2040, it is imperative that the government and housing associations embrace innovative technology and modular solutions. Yesterday's announcement makes it clear that modular housing is rapidly gaining support from the government thanks to its ability to speed up the delivery process, without forsaking quality.

"At Ilke Homes we work with a range of clients and partners whose schemes and developments are backed or supported by Homes England. We work to build high-quality, precision engineering housing of the same standard as a traditional-build - and can install six homes a day onsite. We look forward to continuing our work with Homes England and housing associations across the country to deliver much needed homes sooner for those who need it."