A £5.35m modular homes project in Wirral secures £3.7m development loan from Bridging Finance Solutions with work by developer Starship due to begin ‘imminently’. Tony McDonough reports
Factory-built homes specialist Starship group has secured a £3.7m development loan that will allow it to start work on an upmarket development in West Kirby.
Birkenhead-based Starship will demolish the former M&Co building on Dee Lane to create Sandlea View. This will comprise two zero carbon commercial units at ground floor and eight ‘luxury’ apartments across the three upper floors.
Wallasey-based Bridging Finance Solutions (BFS) is providing the £3.7m facility to Starship and Sandlea View will have a final development value of £5.35m. This is BFS’s largest development loan to date.
Starship was formed following the acquisition and merger of several existing property development and construction businesses. It is backed by a private investment fund and has delivered more than £75m of residential projects across the UK.
It specialises in so called ‘modern methods of construction’. This sees the main structure of its developments made in its factory and then later installed on site.
In 2021 it completed four factory-built modular homes in New Ferry in Wirral. These zero-carbon properties have now been handed over to housing association Magenta Living.
In August 2022 Starship relocated its manufacturing facility from Deeside to Wirral Waters, creating 100 new jobs. Shortly before that it moved its administrative headquarters to the Hythe office building, also in Wirral Waters.
Demolition of the existing building at its latest scheme in West Kirby is set to begin imminently, and the project will take some 14 months to complete.
Steve Barber, managing director of BFS, said: “This is a brilliant scheme for us, marking not only our largest facility to date, but the sixth loan for Starship.
“These guys are seasoned developers and have already created some brilliant schemes. We’re pleased to be able to help fund this latest project and look forward to working alongside them as the build gathers pace.”