Tenants have moved into City of Wolverhampton Council’s first council homes constructed totally offsite – just three months after the first sections arrived for the four two-bedroom modular houses.
The homes were manufactured in Dublin by Extraspace Solutions and were craned into place at the end of January ready to have their brick skins added and be connected to utilities.
They are the first of their kind delivered by the council in conjunction with Wolverhampton Homes.
Enabling works on the £600,000 pilot scheme, which is part of the council’s newbuild council housing programme on small sites, started in November.
Snow and freezing temperatures delayed completion of the project – but it still took less than half of the time of a traditional build to complete them.
City of Wolverhampton Council director for housing, Kate Martin, said: “This project is yet another example of how the council is using innovative ways to accelerate housebuilding in the City of Wolverhampton.
“Clearly, larger housing developments are crucial to meeting our housing targets – but the cumulative effect of smaller scale projects like this is also vital to improving our offer.”
Shaun Aldis, chief executive at Wolverhampton Homes, added: “We’re really excited about this scheme.
“Modular buildings have many benefits over traditional construction including a shorter construction time, reduced site disruption and more consistent quality.
“This means we can provide more council housing, more quickly, without too much disruption to the people living next to the build site.”
The homes will remain in the ownership of the city council and are being managed by Wolverhampton Homes.
Original link – 24 Housing
