News22.06.23by James RidingPlaces for People (PfP) is looking for alternatives to a £100m deal with modular house builder Ilke Homes with just 4% of planned homes delivered, Inside Housing can reveal.Just over 30 homes out of a planned 750 were delivered under the partnership (picture: Simon and Simon Photography)SharelinesPlaces for People is looking for alternatives to a £100m deal with modular house builder Ilke Homes with just 4% of planned homes delivered, Inside Housing can reveal #UKhousing The 198,000-home landlord said it was focusing on delivering housing on sites earmarked for the partnership “via a different route”.
Ilke, the government-backed house builder which last week paused its operation and put itself up for sale, signed a £100m deal with PfP in 2019.
Under the deal PfP agreed to order 750 homes, including 500 for sites it already owned and 250 for new schemes it would partner on, to develop affordable and market price housing.
However, Inside Housing can reveal that of the 750 homes ordered from Ilke, just over 30 were delivered. A PfP spokesperson told Inside Housing: “We’ve taken delivery of more than 30 homes across three sites; we’d originally planned for more but over a much longer period of time.
“Our absolute priority now is delivering homes for our customers and we’re focused on doing this via a different route.”
The news that PfP would focus on delivering the sites via “a different route” than the Ilke partnership came as Ilke filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators.
The move, announced on Tuesday 20 June, gave the embattled house builder 10 working days’ protection from creditors who might seek to take action against the firm to recover loans.
In a statement, Ilke said: “This is a protective measure in the best interests of all parties based on the financial position of the company. Ilke Homes continues to progress conversations with investors regarding securing the company’s future.”
Last week the firm said it was in talks with 15 potential investors in a bid to secure more funding. The partnership between Ilke and PfP was the largest deal yet for Britain’s modular housing sector at the time and garnered headlines when it was announced in 2019, including a feature slot on BBC Breakfast.
“There’s a potential housing revolution here and it’s exciting,” David Cowans, then-chief executive of Places for People, told Inside Housing.
In October 2021, Places for People said it would purchase two sites for the partnership: a 307-home development in Burgess Hill, Sussex; and a 165-home development in Exmouth Junction, Exeter.
The following year, planning permission was granted for 307 homes in Burgess Hill. At the time Ilke said the development would have been completed by 2025.
Ilke is the latest modular builder to experience issues with cash flow. Last month Legal & General announced that it would stop production at its giant modular factory due to weak demand, leaving Goldman Sachs-backed house builder TopHat as Ilke’s last remaining major competitor in the modular sector.
It also follows the collapse last year of House, a joint venture between developer Urban Splash, Japan’s Sekisui House and Homes England.
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