Homes to be Urban & Civic’s first to be built using modular construction

Modular housebuilder TopHat has been appointed by developer Urban & Civic at a 6,200 home development in Warwickshire.

TopHat will build 38 homes as part of the first phase of the 1,200 acre scheme in Houlton, a joint venture between Urban & Civic and Aviva Investors. 

The homes, which will be the developer’s first built using modular off-site construction, will be manufactured in single-storey modules at TopHat’s factory in Derby before being transported to Houlton later this month. 

modular construction

Urban & Civic said the homes will provide “significant improvements in energy efficiency over current building standards”.

Housebuilders Davidsons Homes, Redrow Homes, Morris Homes and Crest Nicholson are also working on the scheme, which will include a secondary school, two primary schools, a nursery and a convenience store.

A former director at TopHat, Mike Ormesher, launched an alliance of 18 northern housing associations earlier this month with a goal of building 9,000 offsite homes a year by 2023.

The Offsite Homes Alliance, which is being driven by housing association Great Places, says it will provide a customisable catalogue of designs for its partners with a focus on as many MMC and offsite technologies as possible.