Modular approach to tackle homes shortage as huge new house factory opens

MODULAR HOUSEBUILDER Ilke Homes has officially opened the doors to its first modular housing factory at Flaxby, near Knaresborough.

The London-based company aims to build 2,000 new homes a year at the factory within the next 24 months, and plans are already in place to scale up the operations to produce 5,000 homes per year in the next five years.

The factory, which occupies the site vacated by Yellow Pages printer RR Donnelley, will build eight energy-efficient modular homes a day. These are transported to developments across the country and once on site, can be installed at a rate of six homes per day – cutting the time a conventional build programme takes to deliver housing.

The opening of the factory has created more than 250 local jobs, and a further 500 jobs are planned to become available over the next five years as Ilke increases production.

Björn Conway, CEO of Ilke Homes, said: “We’re proud to officially open our first modular housebuilding factory in Knaresborough; using modern methods of construction and new technologies to deliver beautifully designed, sustainable family homes, made by our employees in Yorkshire and installed across the country.”

Communities Secretary James Brokenshire MP, who officially opened the 280,000 sq ft factory, said: “Ilke Home’s new factory will play an important role in the delivery of high-quality affordable homes both here in Yorkshire and across the country.”

Mr Brokenshire added: “I want to see an increasing number of these house production facilities to improve standards and increase output, to help meet our intent of building 300,000 homes a year by the mid2020s.”