Modular housing company ilke Homes has been selected by Boots to deliver the
UK’s largest low-rise modular housing development – a 622-home scheme in
Beeston, Nottingham.
The deal, brokered by Blackstar Advisory, will unlock a 43-acre
housing site* that sits in close proximity to Boots’ UK headquarters and is
part of the wider 286-acre Nottingham Enterprise Zone, which was granted its status
by the UK Government in 2011.
The UK’s leading health and beauty retailer, part of the Walgreens Boots
Alliance Group, selected ilke Homes to develop the site, which has been
allocated for residential development since 2014, due to the exemplary design
proposals, speed of delivery, and the sustainability credentials which are
synonymous with factory-built volumetric homes.
Boots UK’s decision to select ilke Homes to deliver this significant
regeneration scheme represents the first time it has released any part of its
Nottingham site holdings for housing.
This significant announcement follows recent news that ilke Homes has
reached a milestone valuation of £200 million and has a pipeline of over 3,000
homes; this is despite being founded just three years ago.
ilke Homes will work with its architects HTA Design to curate a ‘model
village’ development that focuses on creating a connection between people and
place – building on a high-quality landscape design to support a rich mix of
homes in a truly unique setting.
Subject to planning consent, the proposed scheme will become ilke Homes’
flagship site, and will be designed to maintain the existing campus feel and
integrate sympathetically into the surrounding area, which includes iconic
twentieth century buildings, the Beeston canal, and the River Trent meadows
beyond.
The proposed scheme will seek to deliver 505 houses together with 117
apartments. All the houses will be manufactured along production lines at ilke
Homes’ 250,000 sq. ft factory in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire.
By using precision-engineering techniques and digital design, all 505 homes
will have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of at least a ‘B’,
making them more energy-efficient than 92 percent of all new-builds in the UK.
Higher levels of energy performance are also expected to translate into huge
long-term cost savings on energy bills for residents, with the homes being able
to run on as little as £1-a-day.
Acting as a full ‘turnkey’ developer, ilke Homes will manage the entire
development process – from securing the land deal, and obtaining gaining
planning permission, through to developing the site and delivering the homes.
As part of the company’s development led offering, launched in 2019, ilke Homes
is already well on its way to deliver over 2,000 homes for a mix of clients
including the UK’s largest housing associations and institutional investors, as
well as local councils.
ilke Homes has been selected to regenerate a significant part of the
Enterprise Zone due to the firm’s commitment and ability to ensure the scheme
can be delivered in a sustainable and efficient manner, which aligns closely
with Boots’ long-standing vision of “caring for people and communities around
the world”.
A Reserved Matters planning application is due to be submitted imminently.
Tom Heathcote, executive director
of development at ilke Homes, said: “This site
represents a truly special opportunity to create a unique and sustainable
housing development within the established Nottingham conurbations. The site is
steeped in rich heritage and has been a central part of Boots’ success story
over the last few decades, so we are incredibly excited for the opportunity to
work alongside Boots, HTA Design, and the local stakeholders at both Broxtowe
Borough and Nottingham City Councils to truly transform this redundant
industrial space into a well-designed new community and provide better homes in
a better way.”
Mark Chivers, Director of Estates
for Boots UK, said: “We are delighted to partner with
ilke Homes to develop this site to provide high-quality, affordable and
energy-efficient housing for people in the local area. Because of the
historical significance of this site and everything it represents in terms of
our company heritage it was vital that we find the right partner. I am pleased
that the site will be put to good use and look forward to seeing a thriving
community emerge there in the coming years.”
Tim Garratt, CEO of Blackstar Advisory,
said: “This is probably one of the most important and
strategically significant residential land deals in a generation for
Nottingham.
It was clear from the outset of the project that the client wanted something
away from the ordinary, not an estate of little boxes. We worked very hard with
Ilke Homes and their architects to get a solution which satisfies the positive
legacy we wanted.”
*Subject to reserved matters planning consent
