Modular leader ilke Homes has secured a 12.4-acre site in Hastings, East Sussex for 140 affordable, factory-built homes.
Following a competitive tender process, Hastings Borough Council said it chose ilke Homes to develop the Harrow Lane site due to the company’s ability to “demonstrate best value, accelerated delivery and high levels of sustainability”.
The scheme will deliver a mix of apartments and one- to four-bed houses, 70 of which will be affordable rent and 70 shared ownership.
The announcement takes the developer’s pipeline over 3,000 and brings its South East pipeline close to 1,000 homes. It will be the fourteenth site ilke homes will deliver as part of its turnkey offering, under which it acquires the land, gains planning permission, manufactures the homes and develops the site.
ilke Homes recently raised £60m in a fundraise from investors across the public and private sectors – including Homes England, Asda owners TDR Capital, Sun Capital and The Guinness Partnership.
Ilke said that its modular method meant that it could deliver the homes in half the time of traditional methods. A reserved matters application will be submitted to the local council in November, with ilke aiming to start on site by autumn 2022. Practical completion of the first homes is expected in spring 2023.
Executive director Tom Heathcote said: “ilke Homes is increasingly becoming a partner of choice for local authorities looking to scale up the delivery of energy-efficient, affordable housing, and this deal is testament to that.”
He added that ilke’s sustainable methods would help Hastings to meet its own carbon reduction targets while simultaneously delivering well in excess of the 40% policy compliant provision of affordable housing required by the outline planning permission. Hastings has recently declared a climate emergency.
Cllr Andy Batsford, lead councillor for housing at Hastings Borough Council, said: “With land owned by the council available for housing and development in short supply it was essential that we found like-minded partners who can deliver the type of homes we as a town desperately need, namely truly affordable ones.”
