7th October 2020
A new report which urges the Government to build 75,000 modular homes a year highlights the ground-breaking partnership between Rollalong and Magna Housing.
Build Homes, Build Jobs, Build Innovation: A Blueprint for a Housing-Led Industrial Strategy was co-authored by Mark Farmer and Mike De’Ath and is currently being considered by 10 Downing Street.
The report highlights the importance of collaboration and spotlights how Rollalong and Magna Housing are working with Dorset Council to demonstrate that beautiful homes, manufactured locally to very high environmental quality standards, can fit well in the context and local character of the region.
It highlights our work to develop design codes and a pattern book of homes and the parallels to the planning white paper proposals.
Magna Housing has already invested in 95 homes, working closely with planners, and the first three planning consents are demonstrating the design versatility of these homes that benefit from Rollalong’s advanced manufacturing experience which ensures that these homes are not only beautiful but built to last.
The report notes: “We would highlight a progressive approach being currently developed in Dorset where Magna Housing Association in conjunction with their manufacturing partner Rollalong are currently agreeing with Dorset Council how a pre-approved pattern book of typologies … can form the basis for accelerated consent.
“This will then enable the forward ordering of modules by Magna to be held in stock. These can then be drawn down as various sites for themselves and other partners who want to collaborate in a purchasing consortium are developed.
“All of this is planned in one of the most architecturally sensitive areas of the country and will minimise impact on communities and accelerate delivery.”
Mark Farmer, one of the report’s authors, is the Government’s MMC champion whose role is to promote the use of MMC or modern methods of construction (including offsite and modular manufacture of buildings) in the UK.
This is Mr Farmer’s first report since the influential Farmer Review of the UK Construction Labour Model, also known as Modernise Or Die, in 2016.
Steve Chivers, Managing Director of Rollalong, said: “It’s very pleasing that our work with Magna Housing has been highlighted in this important report.
“We want to collaborate with clients who understand the benefits of MMC in terms of safety, quality, speed and flexibility, and it’s a pleasure to work with Magna Housing, who have really embraced MMC as the way forward.”
Paul Read, Assistant Director of Development at Magna Housing, added: “This report rightly emphasises the fact that modern methods of construction and innovative partnerships like ours are the solution when it comes to building new homes.
“We have other clients now keen to come on board and we have listened to their demands. The new 20/21 range is hugely exciting, hitting extremely high environmental standards, but we are also listening closely to how people want to live in these homes. In the midst of a pandemic this means we have increased space and accessibility standards and focused on making them made cheap to heat and maintain.
“By developing a pattern book approach with Rollalong we can accelerate delivery of new housing and achieve economies of scale while still building homes that our residents love.”
The Magna homes range is built off site in a factory-controlled setting and are therefore more cost-effective to maintain and quicker to construct, generate less waste and have a lower carbon footprint in use than traditional brick houses, making them a sustainable housing solution.
Councillor Graham Carr-Jones, Portfolio Holder for Housing at Dorset Council, said: “We’re really pleased with the findings in the report and hope that this will see the start of the creation of new, sustainable housing developments in Dorset.
“Here at Dorset Council we’re also using modular homes as part of our Building Better Lives programme which is a joint initiative with our health partners to deliver new health, social care and housing across the county.”
You can read the full report here: https://www.hta.co.uk/storage/app/media/build-homes-build-jobs-build-innovation.pdf
27th January 2020
Can innovation in construction resolve the housing crisis? That was the question posed to guests at RNLI Poole during the Constructing Excellence South West conference on Friday (24th January).
The keynote speaker at the Modernise or Die conference, hosted by the Dorset branch of the Constructing Excellence Regional Partnership (CERP), was Mark Farmer, co-Chair of Constructing Excellence and independent champion for Modern Methods of Construction (MMC).
After a welcome address and brief about his vision for a new technology-based construction industry, Mark Farmer invited our Managing Director Steve Chivers and Paul Read from Magna Housing to the stage to deliver a best practice case study to guests about precision-engineered housing.
Magna Housing, based in Dorchester, has formed a unique partnership with us, which involves the development of seven initial residential sites that are no more than an hour from our state-of-the-art factory in Wimborne, Dorset.
The Magna remit for our designers was to mirror the Magna portfolio to build homes their residents want: attractive, affordable and healthy. In addition to this, precision engineering will enable us to deliver homes with enhanced energy efficiencies, noise transfer and fire performance promoting a feeling of quality and safety in well designed homes set within attractive streets.
In October 2016 Mark delivered an independent review of the UK construction labour market entitled Modernise or Die jointly sponsored by BEIS (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) and MHCLG (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government) and published by the Construction Leadership Council.
The report’s findings led Mark to champion a gradual move in the UK towards more pre-manufacture-led construction delivery in a bid to improve productivity and predictability for clients – something that Rollalong wholeheartedly supports.
Mark Farmer said: “Today was a really good event and an opportunity for a wider audience in Dorset to hear about some really innovative thinking that’s been going on – particularly the partnership between Rollalong and Magna Housing.
“Steve and Paul presented the journey they’ve been on in creating a strategic partnership. Magna was a housing association that wanted to engage with MMC but wasn’t sure how to go about it.
“Their journey is a really interesting template to follow. Magna has provided the brief and Rollalong have created a range of house types that can be varied with cladding materials, roof types and so on. This enables them to be used in a whole range of locations across the Magna porftiolio in Dorset.
“It was a really insightful session and I learned a lot that I want to share as the Government’s MMC champion that can be used elsewhere in the country.
“My role is about making sure good practice is supported. After this morning there’s a really good opportunity to shine a light on some of the great stuff that’s been happening and share it more widely.”
Our partnership with Magna Housing, procurement specialists LHC and consultants CAMS will promote a ‘modular first’ solution which is supportive of a collaborative approach to assisting in solving the current housing crisis.
Steve Chivers, Managing Director at Rollalong, added: “I see this as a golden opportunity to change the nature and perception of what it is to work within the construction industry.
“This is a great opportunity to attract the next generation of multi-skilled workers to design and manufacture homes in our Dorset-based factory, reducing disruption to local residents and condensing construction timescales to solve the desperate requirement for homes across the south of England.”
Paul Read added: “I was delighted to share the partnership we have developed with Rollalong with Constructing Excellence colleagues in Dorset this week. By working in this new and innovative way we are speeding up our timescales, delivering high quality homes for our local residents and reducing our carbon footprint in the process.
“For Magna this is all about getting it right for the people living in homes we offer for rent and sale, maximising their feeling of safety and security in their home with desirable designs that work in the local context.
“We are in discussion with other clients, consultants and Rollalong as we all find our way with offsite manufacturing in the residential sector. Magna has already delivered proof of concept in our demonstration home and ordered 45 homes, with 38 of those in storage awaiting delivery to site and the balance in manufacture.
“Over the next 12 months we aim to do even more and deliver a client cluster to develop the system and homes for the future, reducing costs to residents in use and to increase production fourfold and benefit from productivity gains in so doing.”
The conference will be followed later in the year by a tour of the Rollalong manufacturing facility by Mark Farmer on 2nd April 2020.
Pictured at the event are Rollalong MD Steve Chivers (centre) with Mark Farmer, Co-Chair of Constructing Excellence (right) and Paul Read from Magna Housing (left).