Construction Corridor in the North gains £30M funding

The government has announced the awarding of £30M in funding, from the £4.5Bn Home Building Fund, to the North of England in order to create a ‘Construction Corridor’ wherein the North will become a world-leading region in terms of modern and sustainable housing construction.

In announcing his investment in the ‘Construction Corridor’, Yorkshire was specifically identified as the region which will be the recipient of the £30M, with some of funding being granted to the housing construction company ilke Homes.

The Housing Minister, Esther McVey MP stated: “The North of England has the potential to lead the world in the modern methods of construction that are transforming home building. An industry that when matured would be worth £40Bn a year and provide up to 80,000 jobs. We need to fully embrace this.

“This £30M investment in ilke Homes is a significant step forwards in the development of the ‘Construction Corridor’ – a new hub in the North that is front and centre of building the homes we need.

“It is vital we invest in new technology to get Britain building. Homes built using modern methods can be of higher quality, greener and built to last.”

Going into more detail, ilke Homes will utilise the investment that they will receive by boosting construction at their factory in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, increasing their production rate from 2,000 homes per year to 5,000, and thereby making them a top ten UK housebuilder.

The Executive Chairman at ilke Homes, Dave Sheridan commented: “This deal is testament to the dynamic approach Homes England is taking to address structural issues within our housing and construction industries.

“The funding will bring in further private capital, creating hundreds more skilled jobs allowing us to build more homes more quickly for first-time buyers.

“We want to continue driving efficiency, quality and sustainability within the housebuilding industry and see this as a fantastic signal to others wishing to do the same.”

The Chief Executive at Homes England, Nick Walkley added: “Our role is to be bold and take steps to speed up the delivery of homes across the country and there is huge, untapped potential to unleash by creating more capacity in offsite manufacturing.

“Modern methods of construction offer enormous benefits to housebuilding and this deal will have a transformational effect on ilke Homes’ production.”

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