Government housing minister Gavin Barwell called for more offsite construction across the housebuilding sector as he visited Liverpool on 01 December.
The MP attended Liverpool Mutual Homes’ (LMH) Belle Vale scheme, which is thought be one of the largest housing projects to be developed in this way by a social housing landlord in the UK.
The 33 two and three-bedroom properties have been made away from the Naylorsfield Drive site in specialist factory conditions by Bowsall and then put into place using a crane.
Through this method, the homes’ ground floors, upper floors and roofs were built in sequence before utility supplies were connected and interiors fitted out.
During his visit, Gavin Barwell said: “Offsite construction provides a huge opportunity to increase housing supply and we want to see more innovation like this across the housebuilding sector.
“And this development at Belle Vale is a fantastic example of what can be achieved.
“Our £3 billion Home Building Fund will provide loans to support more offsite construction, small firms and custom builders, creating thousands of new homes and jobs in the process.”
LMH’s £3.5m Belle Vale scheme was part-funded by the Homes and Communities Agency’s (HCA) 2015/18 Affordable Homes Programme after it successfully bid for funding via JV North, a consortium of nine other housing associations.
Steve Coffey, chief executive at LMH, adds: “If this type of construction method can be rolled out on a large scale, we could speed up the entire housing building process significantly.
“Given the national housing shortage, landlords and developers have a duty to look at alternative methods to build homes more efficiently.”
Original link - Your Move Magazine
