Legal & General Modular Homes plans to erect 154 homes, using prefabricated modular components, on the eight-acre site on Portholme Road, Selby.
From its factory in nearby Sherburn-in-Elmet, Legal & General has ambitions produce 3,000 modular homes a year by 2024. So far this year it has added 350 homes to its pipeline.
Selby is the first scheme, where Legal & General Modular Homes will deliver a full development proposition from buying land, developing the product, achieving planning consent through to delivery.
During the Covid-19 lockdown, Legal & General and its housing businesses have continued to pay 100% of employees’ wages and have not applied for any financial support from the government. Factory operatives were initially sent home but some returned last week, with operations re-aligned to accommodate social distancing. Design and digital engineering specialists have been able to work remotely throughout the lockdown period and 75 employees have now returned to the factory as part of the gradual phasing back of its 250 staff.
The Portholme Road scheme in Selby is being promoted as a “showcase how innovation in the industry can bring a step change to UK residential development”. The masterplan at the site in Selby incorporates a mix of terraced houses and low-rise apartments. Legal & General Modular Homes will deliver 76 one and two bedroom apartments, alongside 78 two and three bedroom houses. All homes have been designed to achieve EPC Standard A, currently only achieved by 1% of new homes.
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Rosie Toogood, CEO of Legal & General Modular Homes said: “Using modular construction, Legal & General will be able to deliver high quality homes at a much faster rate than through traditional construction. In a post Covid-19 crisis environment, the speed of delivery will be more important than ever before.
“Our journey to revolutionise the UK’s construction industry is well underway, and planning consent at Portholme Road, Selby is testament to this. This scheme, along with our proposals at Bonnington Walk in Bristol, will showcase the benefits of modular construction. Achieving planning permission for this Selby scheme is a fantastic milestone for the business, and a major achievement for the team, particularly set against the current backdrop.”
Including Selby, during the last three weeks of lockdown Legal & General has achieved planning approvals for around 650 new homes across five schemes, including a 270-home ‘later living’ community at its former Surrey office campus in Kingswood.
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