Modular housing specialist ilke Homes has struck a deal with Places for People to deliver 472 affordable homes on sites in Exeter and Sussex.

The schemes will be delivered as part of the £100m joint venture the two companies entered in 2019, with the news being hailed as another sign of growing confidence in offsite manufacturing (OSM).

The announcement comes as the National Housing Federation has calculated there are now 1.6 million families waiting for housing on council lists, as the supply of affordable homes continues to deplete.

With more than 219,000 homes across the UK and some of the country’s most significant regeneration projects, Places for People’s backing of OSM will be welcomed as property chiefs respond to calls to speed up delivery, improve quality and fend off a construction skills crisis.

As part of the agreement and subject to planning permissions, Places for People will purchase two sites: a 307-home development in Burgess Hill, Sussex; and a 165-home development in Exmouth Junction, Exeter.

Both developments will provide a range of apartments and two, three and four-bedroom affordable homes, which will be managed by Places for People and available for affordable rent or for sale through shared ownership.

Scott Black, group executive director – developments, at Places for People, said: “By adopting modern methods of construction (MMC), our partnership with a proven modular business such as ilke Homes allows us to create more affordable, well-designed mixed-tenure communities across the country - speeding up delivery, cutting costs and giving our customers unrivalled choice and quality. The partnership is about pioneering a new way of delivering homes through making socially-responsible decisions and working with best-in-class partners.

“Our investment in modular housing across our developments and the proposed acquisition and delivery of Exmouth Junction and Burgess Hill forms an integral part of Places for People’s ambitious growth strategy to deliver high quality affordable homes which meet people’s needs.”

Dave Sheridan, executive chairman at ilke Homes, said: “We are extremely pleased to have secured these sizeable opportunities which demonstrate our continued investment and expansion across the South-East and South-West regions. These transactions mark a significant achievement for our modular business, with Burgess Hill being the largest for our business in both GDV and volume for a forward-sold turn-key delivery package on a single site. Exmouth Junction is similarly the largest site to date secured and packaged in the SW region. We are proud to be delivering these homes in partnership with Places for People, making a considerable and accelerated contribution to the availability of affordable homes nationwide.”