Swan Housing Association has delivered its first modular homes to their Basildon development
When complete, the modular homes will be almost identical to traditionally built homes. They will be greener, more sustainable (including cheaper to heat), and come with a ten-year guarantee and 60-year quality assurance.
There will also be 260 homes for private sale, which will be customisable by the buyer – giving them the opportunity to design their own home including selecting the layout, specification, external appearance and even adding additional rooms.
Buyers will be able to use the online configurator software to design their new home, from either the comfort of their own home or in the new marketing suite on site.
Built using Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT), Swan’s in-house developer, NU living, will deliver these modular homes under their ‘NU build’ brand. CLT is a sustainable construction material which utilises softwood timber grown in managed forests.
It’s resilient, long lasting and used widely throughout Europe and the USA to construct homes. CLT is also sustainable as every tree used within the forest is replaced.
Swan is funding the factory set-up, the on-going costs and the production of the modular homes from the budget for their redevelopment of the Craylands estate. They believe they can make savings against traditional construction – and deliver completed homes to site 50% quicker than traditional construction methods.
John Synnuck, Swan’s chief executive, said: “At Swan we understand the desperate need for quality new homes.
“We believe that off-site construction methods will enable us to deliver these much needed homes quickly, designed to a high specification and with reduced impact on both local residents and the environment.
“We are not only excited to be early adopters in the UK of this new way of working, but to see the first of our modules delivered to site, is not only exciting, but a great step towards helping deliver more homes, more quickly!”
Geoff Pearce, executive director of development and regeneration, said: “I am thrilled to have seen the first of our homes delivered to site today! Swan is truly committed to delivering innovation.
“Off-site construction is commonly used overseas and the homes are indistinguishable from ones that are built using more traditional methods.
“We already have our own in-house skilled construction team and so, as both the constructor and developer of the homes, we are perfectly placed to manage the process of building homes off-site efficiently and to the highest standards.
“We are convinced that this method will enable us to deliver modern high-quality homes that people will want to live in, whilst supporting the economy in our core geographical base, building local and national expertise in manufacturing and supporting the UK modular industry.”
Swan’s offsite factory will produce 300-400 modular homes per year. 560 of which, will be used in the latest phase of Swan’s regeneration of the Craylands Estate in Basildon.
