Modular housebuilder ilke Homes has craned into place the first factory-built homes on a site in Hereford.

In total 120 homes will be developed at the site through a £23m partnership between ilke Homes and housing provider Stonewater. 

The development on College Road is on the formerly derelict Holmer Trading Estate site and is supported by Homes England. 

It is being transformed to tackle the local growing demand for affordable housing – with work on site set to complete by early 2024.

The site, which was secured by ilke Homes from the landowners and subsequently bought by Stonewater last year, was the first project ilke Homes had secured under its full development “turnkey” offering. 

This approach involves the housebuilder leading the entire development programme, from site identification and gaining planning consent, through to developing the scheme and finally installing the factory-built homes.

In total 74 affordable rent and 46 shared ownership homes will be developed comprising a mix of one, two, three and four-bedrooms properties.

All the homes being delivered at the former Holmer Trading Estate will be manufactured along production lines at ilke Homes 250,000 sq ft factory in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire – a facility that is backed by a £30m investment from the government’s national housing agency, Homes England. 

Properties will achieve at least a ‘B’ Energy Performance Certificate rating, making them more energy-efficient than 92% of the UK’s housing stock. 

The energy performance of each home also translates into cost savings for Stonewater’s customers, who could save hundreds of pounds on energy bills each year.

Tom Heathcote, executive director of development at ilke Homes, said: “Skyrocketing house prices, rising energy bills and near double-digital inflation means many households are faced with an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis. 

“More now than ever, it is crucial we ramp up the delivery of energy-efficient affordable housing, so it’s great to reach the latest milestone on site.

“Since launching our full development “turnkey” offering, we’ve been able to offer housing associations, councils, investors and developers a solution to housing delivery that provides certainty over construction programmes. We look forward to continuing to work with the forward-thinking housing provider Stonewater to deliver this 100% affordable scheme.”

Matt Crucefix, director of development (south and west) at Stonewater, added: “The journey to net zero in conjunction with tackling the housing and cost-of-living crisis requires ambition and innovation. MMC has an integral role to play with overcoming these challenges – particularly with providing high-quality homes that are energy efficient and therefore more affordable for our customers to manage.

“College Road is our first development with Ilke Homes, and it’s been an exciting project to get underway. We’re really proud to see the first eight homes delivered on site and look forward to seeing the rest of the scheme take shape.”