The demand for high quality, affordable homes is at an all-time high. It’s therefore not surprising that in initial speeches by our new Government, there was an immediate focus on housing, with a promise to unlock planning decisions and build 1.5 million new homes by 2029.
At Morris & Spottiswood, we’re well-experienced in producing energy-efficient, sustainable affordable homes – both new build and retrofit.
For new build housing, we utilise modern methods of construction (MMC) such as light gauge steel frames and structural insulated panels (SIPS). Factory manufactured MMC offers numerous benefits, including increased quality and performance, improved productivity, reduced health and safety risk, faster on-site delivery, wider employability potential and programme certainty.
MMC also assists in meeting pre-manufactured value (PMV) requirements, such as the Homes England Affordable Homes Programme, which expects projects to have at least 25% delivered through MMC and a PMV of 55%.
End to end service
What sets us apart is our unique end-to-end service offering through the portfolio of businesses within the Morris & Spottiswood Group. Together, we provide new build, retro-fit and refurbishment services; mechanical and electrical (M&E) services; in-house architectural services; maintenance, and a full range of carbon reduction solutions.
We believe in strategic partnerships – getting on board from inception and working together to ensure the right solution for our clients. In this manner, we’ve developed strong relationships with clients such as East Riding Council and Thirteen Housing to deliver high-quality affordable housing.
Bringing us in early leads to many benefits – including reducing the time it takes to get a project through planning, which has been a huge challenge in recent years. We have a dedicated pre-construction team and using our pre-construction service agreement route can save up to a year on a traditional tendering process.
Sustainability
While increasing the quantity and quality of affordable housing stock is vital, something that must not be forgotten is sustainability. From 2025, newly built homes will need to be ‘zero carbon ready’, with a 75% reduction in carbon emissions to 2021 levels in England and Wales.
Our team are experts at meeting even the highest sustainability credentials, should the brief demand it. We have experience in delivering both Passivhaus and EnerPHit retrofit projects, most recently working with Midlothian Council in Scotland to deliver their first Passivhaus and Net Carbon Zero affordable housing developments.
Early engagement is key for achieving Passivhaus. We engage with all delivery partners to ensure required standards are met and there are many milestones and gateways to navigate. Our team are well set up to manage this – building with interrogation, attention to detail, and recording on a daily basis for photographic evidence reporting.
We have a true turnkey solution, from early inception to design, sustainability, delivery and beyond. We work in partnership with Local Authorities and Housing Associations and are on the YORbuild, Pagabo and Innovation Chain North Frameworks, among others.
We can support at every step, offering an end-to-end delivery which is unique in the market.