Modular housing is the key to meeting the government’s housing targets, Urban Splash said as it reported a strong set of annual results.
The company, whose investment portfolio grew from £76.3m to £84m, said it had spent the past year focusing on its modular homes brand, House, having bought SIG Building Systems in March 2018 to deliver modular housing.
Urban Splash is developing 72 new modular homes at Irwell Riverside in Salford, bringing the total number of Urban Splash modular-build houses in the UK to 149.
It also reported that 43 properties in its first New Islington modular scheme have been sold.
Urban chairman Tony Bloxham said in a statement this morning: “We are big advocates of the use of modular technology to create better-designed, affordable and more efficiently created homes in this country.”
Urban has brought in new investors and housing experts, including architect and Channel 4 presenter George Clarke, WeBuyAnyCar.com founder Noel McKee and former JLL residential director Guy Ackernley.
“We have expanded the expertise needed to really grow this business to help meet the government’s policy objectives and – more importantly – the housing needs of the country,” Bloxham said.
In total, the company has a pipeline of more than 3,000 homes across the UK. Its joint venture with Places for People is developing about 500 homes at Campbell Park in Milton Keynes and it is close to starting the development of the 1,000-home Icknield Port Loop development in Birmingham.
The company said it has seen strong sales at its Avro residential development in Manchester, the last Victorian mills to be converted in the city. With some of the largest flats in the city, the scheme is a sign of the diverse types of tenure places need to meet demand, Bloxham said.
Urban Splash has launched an investment vehicle, Urban Splash Residential, which not part of the company but is managed by Urban Splash and which holds the firm’s residential property for rent.
Urban Splash Residential has secured a seed portfolio of £10m and is looking to raise further investment.
Bloxham said: “I firmly believe in residential property as a secure long-term investment and hope to see this grow significantly in the years to come.”
Urban Splash has had an active year refinancing its portfolio. It agreed a £30m five-year loan facility with ICG Longbow alongside a separate £5.3m five-year loan facility with Rothschild on its Beehive Mills portfolio in Ancoats and Park Hill site in Sheffield.
Third-party debt increased from £65.1m to £76.9m, although cash balances at the end of the year stood at £17.3m – a 24% increase on the year before.
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