The social housing arm of Beazer Partnerships will be moving upmarket into large scale-mixed use schemes following last week's management buyout from Persimmon Homes.
The new holding company, Belan, is 49% owned by contractor Kier Group, itself a Beazer employee buyout.

"Kier's experience and knowledge will enable us to undertake a lot more urban regeneration schemes," says John Cadwallader, chief executive officer of Belan. "They're about more than social housing and with Kier's background in refurbishment and mixed use we have a broader front with which to address these types of developments."

Beazer Partnerships, which has been renamed Partnersh ips First, will continue to provide affordable housing and has a current public sector order book of £50m. The MBO also includes Torwood, Beazer's timber frame manufacturing arm, which Cadwallader says will be producing 2500 units a year for the private and public sector by 2005. Belan is currently renegotiating its contract to supply and build Torwood's Tee-U-Tec timber-framed homes for Amphion, the consortium of 22 leading housing associations.

The total value of the buyout from Persimmon was £13m and Belan has agreed to continue meeting Persimmon's social housing requirements. It will also supply Tee-U-Tec frames to Persimmon housing companies until September 2004. Cadwallader was equally bullish about the future of its engineered timber framed homes. "Within six months we will be applying plasterboard and windows in the factory, which will improve product quality and handling on site," he says.

  • Building Homes, Zurich Building Guarantees and the Canadian High Commission are hosting a one-day seminar on the Canadian experience of timber-frame construction. The conference will offer the chance to learn from 20 years' use of timber frame in Canada, changes to the Building Regulations, and benefits to new homeowners. A breath of fresh air takes place on 14 November at Fareham, Hampshire. For details, phone Zurich on 01252 387594.