By Joe Locker, Local Democracy Reporter
A new contractor has been appointed to complete a housing development in Arnold left unfinished when the previous developer went into administration.
Ilke Homes, which was based in Yorkshire, collapsed in June last year while it was working on two major developments in Nottinghamshire.
One was in Rolleston Drive, Arnold, where work on 131 homes had been taking place.
Ilke had been building the homes for housing association Jigsaw, and the scheme was being funded substantially through Homes England, the government’s housing and regeneration agency.
Deliveries of Ilke’s modular homes, which were built in a factory before being transported directly to the Arnold site by lorry, first began in 2022 but work suddenly stopped with many of the units in position.
A total of 85 homes were going to be made available for affordable rent, helping to reduce Gedling Borough Council’s housing waiting list.
The Labour-run authority said the collapse of Ilke was not foreseen and came less than two weeks before the first residents were due to move in.
Jigsaw Homes Midlands now says it has appointed a new contractor to complete the development of 131 homes.
Midlands-based Morro Partnerships was appointed and will now continue work on the development from this month.
Morro will complete the existing homes and build the four remaining homes on site.
Garnet Fazackerley, Operations Director of Development at Jigsaw Homes Group said: “This has been an incredibly challenging time following the collapse of ilke Homes in June 2023.
“However, we remained committed and confident that we could find a suitable partner who could complete the scheme and provide much-needed affordable homes and we are delighted to be working with Morro Partnerships to complete this development.
“The homes will have National House-Building Council warranty following stringent quality and compliance checks and will be finished to a high standard as they have been kept watertight and secure since the development stalled.
“We appreciate the patience from Gedling Borough Council, Homes England and local residents as we know this has been a frustrating time for all concerned, but we are now on the right track to deliver new homes for those most in need.”
The first homes are expected to be completed in October this year with the entire scheme expected to be finished by September 2025.
Giovanni Corbo, Head of Technical and Design at Morro Partnerships, said: “Works will commence on these high-performance modular homes in July 24 with phased handover of plots allowing new residents to occupy the homes within the first few months of our 12-month programme.
“We hope to engage with local subcontractors where possible as part of our sustainability policy.”
Chief Executive of Gedling Borough Council, Mike Hill, added: “We’re very pleased to hear that the homes will be completed and we can get families, who have been waiting for such a long time, into these much needed affordable homes.
“This has been a very stressful time for families, and it has also impacted housing waiting lists in the borough, so we look forward to being able to reduce that list and get people out of temporary accommodation.
“We know that this has been an incredibly difficult time for Jigsaw Homes to resolve this exceptionally unfortunate situation and we welcome this news that Morro Partnerships will be delivering these homes for local people.”
Ilke’s website is still operating, and contains a statement saying trademarks, design property, modular stock, and technology patents have since been bought by a new company called Homespace.
