Places for People explores alternatives to delivery under £100m deal with troubled Ilke

Places for People is exploring alternatives to delivering homes through its £100m deal with troubled modular developer Ilke Homes.

The 231,000-home housing association agreed a joint venture with Ilke in 2019 to deliver 750 homes, and further announced a deal to deliver 472 homes as part of this in October 2021. Under the deal homes would be manufactured in Ilke’s Yorkshire factory and delivered on site.

However, following Ilke’s announcement this week that it has filed notice of its intent to appoint an administrator, Places for People is looking at alternative ways of delivering its homes on some of its sites.

It said in a statement: “We’ve taken delivery of more than 30 homes across three sites; we’d originally planned for more but over a much longer period of time.

“Our absolute priority now is delivering homes for our customers and we’re focused on doing this via a different route.”

It is believed however that the joint venture deal legally obliging Places for People to purchase 750 homes from Ilke remains in place.

>> See also: What does the closure of L&G’s flagship factory mean for the future of modular in the UK?

Housing Today understands Ilke’s filing of the notice is intended to protect the housebuilder, giving it 10 working days protection from creditors as it seeks to secure a sale or new investment.

Last week, Ilke said it was in talks with up to 15 investors regarding a sale, but to date no deal has been concluded.