The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) has allocated 拢30m from the Home Building Fund, which is administered by Homes England, to help start-up modular builder Ilke Homes.
The offers loans typically of up to five years for development finance, and up to 20 years for infrastructure loans. Interest is payable at what it describes as a transparent, agreed variable rate.
Ilke Homes, incorporated in 2017, is owned by London private equity firm TDR Capital, set up in 2002 by Steve Robertson and Manjit Dale. Executive chairman is former Keepmoat and Engie Regeneration CEO Dave Sheridan.
MHCLG says that the money will 鈥減rovide the funding to turbo-charge production at their factory in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire鈥�.
The government is also putting the full weight of its publicity machine to help ensure the security of its loan.
The ministry states (as if fact rather than aspiration): 鈥淏y next year, 2,000 modular homes will roll off Ilke Homes鈥� production line, rising to 5,000 homes a year within the next five years 鈥� making Ilke Homes a top 10 UK housebuilder.鈥�
It continues: 鈥淏ecause Ilke Homes' factory manufactures homes using precision engineering, they are more energy efficient than traditional homes, halving energy costs compared to the average UK property 鈥� creating housing that鈥檚 good for the planet and good for the pocket.
鈥淎 factory environment also allows Ilke Homes to ensure a high-level of quality and consistency is guaranteed for investors, developers and residents.鈥�
The gushing continues: 鈥淭he result is homes that outperform those built traditionally, with Ilke鈥檚 homes proven to be 100% more energy efficient than the average UK home. The investment from government housing agency Homes England will help drive these improvements further by allowing Ilke Homes to scale up its operation.鈥�
Ilke executive chairman Dave Sheridan said: 鈥淭his deal is testament to the dynamic approach Homes England is taking to address structural issues within our housing and construction industries. The funding will bring in further private capital, creating hundreds more skilled jobs allowing us to build more homes more quickly for first-time buyers.鈥�
Homes England chief executive Nick Walkley said: 鈥淥ur role is to be bold and take steps to speed up the delivery of homes across the country and there is huge, untapped potential to unleash by creating more capacity in offsite manufacturing.聽 Modern methods of construction offer enormous benefits to housebuilding and this deal will have a transformational effect on ilke Homes鈥� production.鈥�
Housing minister Esther McVey鈥檚 words were rather more measured. 鈥淚t鈥檚 vital we invest in new technology to get Britain building. Homes built using modern methods can be of higher quality, greener and built to last,鈥� she said.
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