A £55m modular homes project in Wirral Waters will be delivered, says Peel L&P, despite the collapse of House by Urban Splash. Tony McDonough reports
A £55m project to build 351 modular homes at East Float in Wirral Waters will continue despite the collapse of one of the joint venture partners.
In May, House by Urban Splash collapsed into administration. It had partnered with Peel L&P on the Wirral Waters project. It was in the process of finalising the completion of the first 30 units in phase one.
Days before the administration a planning application for the next 55 homes in phase two was submitted to Wirral Council. The collapse of House by Urban Splash, which produced the homes at a factory in Derbyshire, threw the whole project into doubt.
However, on Thursday Peel L&P said the scheme would continue as planned. Richard Mawdsley, director of development for Peel L&P’s Wirral Waters, said: “Peel L&P have taken control of the East Float housing project and will be responsible for the development moving forward.
“Our contractor, who is unaffected by the administration, is on site and key staff have been retained to ensure practical completion of phase one. We expect to achieve practical completion within a matter of weeks.
“The housing products we have delivered in phase one, and plan to deliver in phase two, have been designed by Liverpool-based architects, shedkm. Both the ‘Town House’ and ‘Row House’ homes have been designed so they can be constructed using a variety of methods, including traditional, full volumetric and panelised delivery.
“The different approaches to delivery will not impact on key features such as the 50% reduction in energy costs when comparing Town House to a similar new build home.
“We are now working with the architects, our contractors, and others, to finalise our approach to the delivery of phase two. We are confident these will be delivered within the planned timescales.”
House by Urban Splash, which de-merged from the wider Urban Splash property group in 2019, was owned by Urban Splash shareholders, Japanese modular firm Sekisui and Homes England. It employed a total of 187 people. As a result of the administration 160 people have been made redundant.
Mr Mawdsley added: “The plans for the final two phases of the East Float project do not involve the House by Urban Splash factory and will be delivered as intended.
“The overall delivery trajectory for this particular development at Wirral Waters will not be adversely affected by the closure of the factory. It will be delivered in full and on time.”
East Float is one of three residential schemes now onsite along the new Northbank neighbourhood area of Wirral Waters. They will collectively deliver more than 1,100 new homes in the next few years.
This includes the 500-home Millers Quay development which is also on site. These schemes will sit alongside new public realm, parks, and dockside walkways, much of which is already complete.