Modular house builder gets green light for 183 new homes

Plans approved by Medway Council for the third phase at Kitchener Barracks will repurpose the barracks, which date from 1757, to deliver 68 apartments and 19 two and four-bedroom homes.

The latest phase will also see 96 factory-built apartments within three four-storey blocks. These will be the first ever to be delivered by the modular firm, which is backed by US investment giant Goldman Sachs.

Of the 96 new apartments, 32 will be affordable.

According to the modular developer, the offsite manufacturing process will cut delivery times by half compared to traditional methods.

The South Derbyshire developer is delivering a total of 300 new homes at the 4.8-acre Kitchener Barracks site across three phases with 100 already delivered.

Andrew Shepherd, managing director at TopHat, said: “This latest milestone at Kitchener Barracks will see us begin the delivery of our first apartments. These new apartments demonstrate the solid growth of our business as we continue to diversify our product range to help our clients.

“Kitchener Barracks has been a huge focus of ours for the last few years and we’re extremely proud to be delivering these new, sustainable homes.”

Latest financial results for TopHat, published in August, showed that manufacturing operation TopHat Industries recorded a £21.3m net loss for the year ending 31 October 2020, off a £6.3m turnover. Its operating loss was £17.4m for the period.

Meanwhile TopHat Communities, which handles on-site real estate responsibilities, filed accounts showing a £4.9m loss against a £10.2m turnover, with an operating loss of £3.8m.

Work on the new blocks at Kitchener Barracks is expected to start in the new year.

Source: Inside Housing