Boutique Modern has stopped work on two council house building projects in Lancing ahead of its impending administration.
Its client, Adur District Council, said that it was “urgently seeking information after house-building firm Boutique Modern filed an application to go into administration”.
Boutique Modern is at an advanced stage of construction on a project to build 16 council homes in Lancing for Adur council tenants. The homes were due to be completed and handed over to the council within the next four months.
“We are now considering what action needs to be taken to secure the completion of the developments at Daniel Close and Gravelly Crescent,” the council said. “Work has stopped at both sites and we're seeking to liaise with the new administrators to get more information about the projects.”
Both projects are part of the council’s small sites programme of house-building, under which small garage sites, car parks and compounds the council owns are being redeveloped to create new council homes.
Boutique Modern is a modular manufacturer specialising in housing products for local authorities and housing associations. According to its website, it is the first certified B Corporation in the UK modular construction industry, has 68 staff and has delivered 241 homes to date, having been incorporated in 2010.
Building homes in factories has been widely touted as the solution to many if not all of the UK construction industry's problems. However, the past couple of years have seen TopHat, Ilke Homes, Connect Modular, Elements (Europe) and ESS all failing and Legal & General closing its modular housing factory.
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