THE FIRST HOUSES BY URBAN SPLASH HOMES ARRIVE AT NORTHSTOWE

Residents in Cambridgeshire could soon be living in state-of-the-art homes as the first-ever precision-built ‘modular’ homes are craned into place at Northstowe.  The new neighbourhood  - known as Inholm - is located next to the new Education Campus and where the Town Centre will be located.

The Town House homes are designed by twice-winners of ‘architect of the year’ shedkm, then built in the House factory before being delivered to Northstowe.

Customers can choose the internal layouts of Town House before being precision-built in the company’s factory, fitted with bathrooms and kitchens and delivered and assembled in just a few days.

This method combines an interactive customer design experience and allows high-quality control through multiple manufacturing checks and balances at each stage before leaving the factory.

Housing Minister Rt Hon Christopher Pincher MP said: “Building the homes the country needs is a priority for the government and this development, using modern methods of construction, will not only accelerate this work but deliver better quality and more energy efficient homes too.

“These homes showcase the most promising housebuilding innovations around today and will provide a blueprint for the years to come.” 

Inholm is already an award-winning neighbourhood within the new town of Northstowe; it will comprise 406 new homes offering a variety of choice including a new semi-detached Town House designed especially for Northstowe.

Andrew Cross, Project Lead for House by Urban Splash at  Northstowe explains: “From a construction point of view, the speed largely comes from the timing of the groundworks and the factory works happening at the same time rather than in sequence like they would on a traditional building site.”

He continues: “The benefits for residents being that by the point at which the homes arrive on-site for finishing touches a lot of the major groundworks and messy work has completed.  The homes are also delivered in batches of around six to nine homes, so we can also complete a street scene much quicker for when homeowners start to arrive and occupy their new home.”

South Cambridgeshire District Council’s Lead Cabinet Member for Planning, Cllr Dr.Tumi Hawkins, said:

“I’m pleased our Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service is continuing to work with partners like Urban Splash to bring forward the right homes in the right places. Homes built using modern methods of construction are quicker to build, better for the environment and will help keep energy bills for residents as low as possible – resulting in homes that are genuinely affordable to live in. This is one of our key Business Plan priorities and I’m looking forward to seeing the modular homes become established in our district.”

The homes are also championing MMC at Northstowe - which lower the overall waste generated from construction projects. 

The modern homes also use approximately 67% less energy to build compared to an equivalent traditional built project and contain energy-saving features for homeowners including; high-quality insulation, super energy-efficient windows and LED lighting, a hot water cylinder with an integrated airforce heat pump and electric heating which is clean, emission-free.

Mike Goulding, Homes England’s Project Director for Northstowe said: “It’s great to see the first new homes arrive at Inholm.

“These homes are the result of an ambitious partnership between Homes England, Urban Splash and Japanese modular specialist Sekisui House, and are a real statement of our intent to support MMC and deliver sustainable neighbourhoods where they’re needed most.

The first 43 homes are on the first phase known as the ‘peninsula’ and are now on sale with the first residents expected to move later this year.   The whole peninsula will be completed by the end of 2021.

One of South Cambridgeshire District Council’s Local Members for Northstowe, Cllr Alex Malyon, added: “We are looking forward to welcoming our first residents of Northstowe Phase 2 and excited to see the first modular houses on site. We would like to thank Urban Splash for the significant amount of community engagement they have made with local residents and hope to see this model emulated by all housebuilders.”