As part of its requirements for the £200m Challenge Fund, the government and Housing Corporation stipulated that a quarter of the 4000 homes to be built using the fund should use off-site manufacturing techniques.
Amphion was set up by 15 housing associations to take advantage of a timber-frame construction technology called Tee-U-Tech and has obtained the use of a timber-frame factory in Ipswich.
So its members are concerned that the corporation missed out on an obvious opportunity to encourage OSM housing when it passed Amphion over for funding.
South-east London-based Hyde Housing Association is one of Amphion's members. Hyde chief executive Charlie Adams said: "We made a huge effort at building up volume in the UK, but if we want to do this, then we need a large number of collaborating housing associations. We have this in Amphion, but you have to allocate money to it."
Adams said the submissions by Amphion members – which also include housing associations Hastoe and Acton, and trade union Amicus – fell foul of the late decision by the Housing Corporation that individual bids had to be for 50 units and above.
He also admitted that Amphion's bids to build a total of 500 homes did not yet have planning permission – another corporation requirement for funding approval – but insisted "they would have been given priority".
A Housing Corporation spokeswoman declined to comment on the situation.
In total, 34 housing associations won cash from the £200m Challenge Fund. They plan to develop 4400 homes – 400 more than expected. Of these, 1800 will use some form of modern construction methods and 2800 are expected to house key workers.
Now, Amphion is understood to be pursuing a strategy to convince housebuilders it can supply enough orders to make use of the Tee-U-Tech system financially viable.
Source
Housing Today
No comments yet