New modular homes lifted into place in Bolton
A neighbourhood of new affordable family homes has been lifted into place, in a first for the Bolton area.
The new 22-home development by Bolton at Home was installed on land off Victory Road in Little Lever, after being constructed off-site.
The development will provide 15 three-bedroom houses and seven two-bedroom houses. They are the first modular houses to be installed in the Bolton area, which are constructed in a factory before being delivered and assembled on site.
Similar to how cars are manufactured, ilke Homes precision-engineers homes along a production line, which allows the Government-backed offsite manufacturer to cut delivery times in half while benchmarking quality at various stages of the build cycle.
Residents will be able to make huge long-term savings on heating bills too, thanks to improved air-tightness, with all homes costing significantly less to run.
By manufacturing offsite, ilke Homes, based in Knaresborough, Yorkshire, is also able to minimise disruption to local neighbours by easing congestion caused by construction traffic. All homes will be delivered to site on the back of a heavy goods vehicle and craned into place in a matter of hours.
The homes are then completed on site by main contractor and regeneration specialist, ENGIE.
The houses are expected to be completed by March 2020. Bolton at Home will then make them available for affordable rent.
Paul Philbin, head of development and home ownership at Bolton at Home, said: “This new neighbourhood in Little Lever will help dozens of families to move into affordable, energy-efficient and high-quality homes.
“Installing modular homes at this scale is a first for Bolton and we’re proud to be embracing these modern methods of construction which can help us deliver more affordable homes for local people while reducing the disruption as much as possible to other neighbours.”
Steven Gregory, head of new-build at ENGIE, said: “ENGIE has a lot of experience, working across both traditional and modular housing schemes and we’re delighted to bring our expertise to this project.
“Off-site manufacturing and on-site construction techniques provide a modern approach to house building that enables the energy-efficient homes to be built and installed quicker than traditional methods.
“We were pleased to welcome the units to site and start overseeing the next stage of turning these houses into homes and helping to provide a new, modern community in Bolton.”
Dave Sheridan, executive chairman at ilke Homes, said: “It’s great to be delivering the first ever modular homes in Bolton.
“As the Government commits to tackling the UK’s housing crisis by delivering one million new homes within the next five years, off-site manufacturing will play a vital role.
“Modern methods offer central government, local authorities and housing associations like Bolton at Home an affordable way of delivering high-quality, sustainable homes at pace.”
The highly-insulated homes are made up of a lightweight steel frame and a brick and render finish. The ground floor, first floor and roof are delivered to site in separate, completed sections.
The sections are then put together and connected to electricity and water services. All homes comply with all usual building regulations and are backed by the same NHBC Build Mark warranty that traditional homes offer.
The development is part of Bolton at Home’s plans to introduce 1,400 new properties to the local affordable housing market over the next five years to help meet demand.
Bolton at Home will also be investing a minimum of £19m annually in refurbishing its existing housing stock of approximately 18,000 homes and delivering neighbourhood regeneration.