Housing association launches new construction arm

Published by Max Salsbury for 24dash.com in Housing and also in Development

A housing association has launched its own construction arm - to boost housebuilding.

The Accord Group - which already has its own timber-frame factory - will now build the homes that it designs and manufactures itself.

The move is expected to cut costs by reducing spending on external agencies and contractors, with savings ploughed back into building more new homes.

Mike Stockle, who has 33 years of experience in the construction industry, will head-up the new division which will oversee the first development of 22 new homes in Wolverhampton.

Mr Stockle said: “This is a ground-breaking step for Accord Group and one that I’m very pleased to be a part of.

“The Bushbury development will be the first of many sites in which homes will be designed, constructed and erected by ourselves and once complete it will provide high-quality, low-carbon homes for local people.”

Accord's LoCaL Homes factory, based in Beechdale, Walsall, manufactures one timber-frame home each day and has created 20 jobs for local people since it opened in November 2011.

Chris Handy, Accord's group chief executive, said: “We are delighted to launch our own construction team which will enable us to erect the timber-framed homes that we are manufacturing in our LoCaL Homes factory.

“The savings we make from doing this will also ensure that we stay ahead of increasing costs and meet the challenge of building higher-quality homes with less government grant to do so.

“At a time when house-building in the UK has slumped to a 30-year low, it’s vital that we continue to build new homes and this will help us to do that by reducing costs.”

The Accord Group is made up of seven organisations which provide 11,000 homes across the Midlands and beyond.