ilke Homes picked to deliver 622-home modular site

The modular housing company is to build the UK’s largest low-rise modular housing development – a 622-home scheme in Beeston, Nottingham.

Health and beauty retailer Boots selected ilke Homes to unlock a 43-acre site close to its UK headquarters, which has been allocated for residential development since 2014.

Working with its architects HTA Design, ilke said it will curate a ‘model village’ development focused on creating a connection between people and place in the area, part of the 286-acre Nottingham Enterprise Zone.

The development comprises 505 houses and 117 apartments, with all the houses designed to have an EPC rating of at least B. ilke said the homes, which will be manufactured at its factory in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, will be able to run on as little as £1 per day.

Boots said that it selected ilke for the project – the first time the retailer has released any part of its Nottingham site for housing – due to “the exemplary design proposals, speed of delivery and the sustainability credentials which are synonymous with factory-built volumetric homes”.

Subject to planning consent, the scheme will become ilke Homes’ flagship site.

The company recently reached a valuation of £200m and has a pipeline of more than 3,000 homes for clients ranging from large housing associations to instiutions and local councils.

Tom Heathcote, executive director of development at ilke, said: “This site represents a truly special opportunity to create a unique and sustainable housing development within the established Nottingham conurbations.

“The site is steeped in rich heritage and has been a central part of Boots’ success story over the last few decades, so we are incredibly excited for the opportunity to work alongside Boots, HTA Design and the local stakeholders at both Broxtowe Borough and Nottingham City Councils to truly transform this redundant industrial space into a well-designed new community and provide better homes in a better way.”

Mark Chivers, director of estates for Boots UK, said: “We are delighted to partner with ilke Homes to develop this site to provide high-quality, affordable and energy-efficient housing for people in the local area.

“Because of the historical significance of this site and everything it represents in terms of our company heritage it was vital that we find the right partner. I am pleased that the site will be put to good use and look forward to seeing a thriving community emerge there in the coming years.”