1000 Offsite Homes for Birmingham

The Vistry Group has signed two deals with Homes England to deliver around 1,000 homes in the Midlands, with the majority expected to be built offsite #UKhousing

The government agency has appointed the FTSE250 firm to regenerate the City Hospital west site, in Birmingham, which has planning permission for 750 homes.

In another partnership deal, Vistry will deliver 250 homes on a site in Northamptonshire.

The house builder said the “majority” of the 1,000 homes will be built using timber frames at its Vistry Works East Midlands factory in Leicestershire.

Vistry re-opened the mothballed facility last summer after it inherited the building through its £1.3bn acquisition of its rival, Countryside.

Greg Fitzgerald, Vistry’s chief executive, said using the factory will speed up the delivery of homes “whilst reducing carbon emissions”. In the long term, the firm is aiming for the majority of homes it builds to be timber frame. Vistry has two other factories in Warrington and Leicester.

It comes despite questions marks around the government’s overall strategy on modern methods of construction (MMC). A committee of Peers concluded in January that the current approach was in “disarray”.

At the Birmingham scheme, Vistry said “more than” half the homes will be affordable or private rent tenures, while the rest will be market sale.

The site was earmarked for demolition in 2017, while further plans were brought forward by Homes England just over a year ago. The scheme will also have around 8,000 sq ft reserved for commercial and community space.

For the second deal, Vistry said the 250 homes will be a mix of tenures on a site in the village of Hardingstone, on the southern edge of Northampton. Homes England previously owned the site, which already has outline planning permission.

Mr Fitzgerald added:

“These deals further evidence the benefit of our long-term strategic partnership with Homes England, enabling the group to deliver a significant number of mixed-tenure homes in the Midlands.”

The firm has not been immune to the current conditions and last October announced it was planning 200 redundancies due to the closure of five of its 32 regional offices. It comes as Vistry shifts its focus to affordable housing through its partnerships business.

A government-commissioned review of Homes England, published this week, said the agency should be alleviated of its responsibilities for Help to Buy and building safety so it can concentrate on its “core mission” of housing delivery.

Source: Inside Housing