INDUSTRY NEWS 5
UK housing sector welcomes Japan’s largest housebuilder
Japan’s biggest housebuilder is moving into the UK housing after striking a £90m deal with Homes England and Urban Splash to deliver thousands of new homes across England.
Sekisui House is one of the world’s leading housebuilders, being a reported pioneer of modern methods of construction (MMC). Facilitated by JLL, the deal comprises new
investment totalling £55m into Urban Splash’s modular ‘House’ development business, representing a 35 per cent stake. ‘House’ is expected to deliver thousands of homes across England using MMC. The Japanese housebuilder has invested £22m of new equity, with £30m of equity and debt funding coming from the Government’s Home Building Fund through Homes England. Yoshihiro Nakai, president and
representative director of Sekisui House, commented: “We are extremely pleased to be able to work together with Homes England and Urban Splash to establish our operations and help to create outstanding communities in the UK.
“Using modern methods of construction to build high quality homes with short build times is one of our company’s great strengths. Our technology and know-how can help resolve pressing social issues in the UK, and I want to see us play our part effective immediately. These operations can also help bring vitality to UK regions, and we will work to make the strongest connec- tions with the local communities.” Tom Bloxham MBE, chairman of Urban
Splash, also commented: “We believe that there is a real opportunity in the UK house- building industry. We hope to leverage our 25 years of place-making experience and our recent investments into modular housing by bringing in new partners; having looked far and wide we chose Sekisui House because of the company’s unrivalled global experi- ence in modular construction and shared values and philosophy – that we are making homes not units – and a joint belief in the need for a green future.”
Council house- building at highest level for 34 years in London
A record-breaking number of new council homes were built in London last year – the most in 34 years. This includes a record number of affordable homes with City Hall’s support. The new statistics show that 14,544
affordable homes were started in the year 2018/19 – which according to City Hall is more than in any year since the body took control of housing investment in the capital, and exceeding the target of 14,000 agreed with Government ministers. This total reportedly includes more homes at social rent levels than ever before (3,991) and 1,916 council homes – more than in any year since 1984/85. The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, commented: “These record-breaking figures show that focusing on building council and social rented homes for Londoners is the right way to tackle the capital’s housing crisis.”
He continued: “My Building Council Homes for Londoners programme has made huge progress already – with more council homes started than in any year since 1985. Councils are beginning to build again after decades of their hands being tied behind their backs – but national Government needs to match our ambition and determination to deliver the homes Londoners so urgently need.”
LA funding to enable 4,000 new homes
It has been confirmed that £55m has been awarded to 12 local authorities by Homes England, to deliver 4,000 homes on sites across England. Awarded through the Government’s
£450m Local Authority Accelerated Construction (LAAC) Programme, the money will support local authorities in preparing sites for development, covering aspects including infrastructure and enabling works, as well as planning,
technical expertise and site remediation. The LAAC programme is stated to
prioritise the use of modern methods of construction, which is hoped will increase the pace of delivery across the developments involved by an average of 40 per cent. Stephen Kinsella, executive director for
Land at Homes England, commented: “This funding will enable local authorities to accelerate housing delivery by enabling them to prepare sites for development and bring forward the construction of new homes incorporating modern methods of construction.” The first of the developments will start on site later this year.
New homes continue to rise, reports NHBC
More than 13,500 new homes were registered to be built in the UK in April, according to the latest figures from NHBC – an increase of 21 per cent compared to a year ago. 13,527 new homes were registered (9,972
private sector; 3,555 affordable and rental sector) compared to 11,218 a year ago (7,427 private sector; 3,791 affordable and rental sector). Seven of the 12 UK regions saw an
increase, with London seeing another considerable rise in registrations — up 61 per cent (5,475 in 2019 / 3,397 in 2018). This is reportedly being driven by growth in the numbers of larger developments and an “increased appetite in the private rental sector.” In addition, NHBC believes the strong level of growth compared to April last year is partly due to the impact of the very cold weather in spring 2018. Looked at over a rolling quarter, 38,496
new homes were registered to be built compared to 36,042 in the same February – April period last year. The private sector was up 4 per cent (27,881 in 2019 / 26,754 in 2018), with the affordable and rental sector up 14 per cent (10,615 in 2019 / 9,288 in 2018).
Commenting on the new figures, NHBC chief executive Steve Wood said: “It is great to see another strong month for new home registrations. To date, there is little evidence that Brexit uncertainties are denting devel- oper confidence, whilst the continued flow of inward investment into the private rental sector is another good sign of resilience.”
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