Modular Construction For North Ayrshire Council Houses

Construction is now under way on 31 new council houses in Seamill following a ground-breaking ceremony last week.

A first for North Ayrshire Council, the houses will be of modular construction – built at an off-site factory before being transported to site where they can be completed in a matter of weeks.

This site will incorporate a mix of general needs houses, general needs flats, amenity flats, and a wheelchair accessible flat, developed in partnership with Hope Homes and The Wee House Company Ltd.

Each house or flat comprises of 2 modules built in The Wee House Company’s 30,000sqft. factory in Ayrshire. Modules are more than 95% complete before leaving the factory, already having been fitted with kitchens, bathrooms, plumbing and electrics.

Efficient design enables 4 houses to be delivered and erected on site in a single day.

The energy efficient new homes, on track to be completed before the end of 2019, will incorporate solar panels to generate renewable electricity for tenants.

The £3.43 million development forms part of the council’s five-year Strategic Housing Investment Plan (SHIP) to deliver high quality, accessible homes in neighbourhoods where people want to live.

Although innovative, modular building methods are used for the Ardrossan Road site, the houses incorporate traditional features such as painted, cast window surrounds and decorative chimneys making them indistinguishable from the vernacular architecture.

Yvonne Baulk, Head of Physical Environment at North Ayrshire Council, said: “This development at Seamill forms part of one of the most ambitious council house building programmes under way in Scotland.”

North Ayrshire Council has committed to building 1,375 new properties by March 2024.