Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Sajid Javid visited a new development from Barratt Homes in Banbury, where he was shown how the company’s innovative methods are improving efficiency in homebuilding.
Mr Javid was welcomed to Barratt Homes West Midlands’ Longford Park development by Managing Director Adrian Farr. Oliver Novakovic, Barratt’s Technical and Innovations Director, then gave Mr Javid an insight into how the company is trialling a number of offsite construction methods such as the large format concrete blocks which are helping to build the 88 new homes at this site. The Secretary of State met Barratt Homes workers to see how these offsite construction methods being used at Longford mean they can build new homes quicker and more easily.
Barratt Developments has increased the number of homes it has built by 50% over the past five years, last year building more than 17,000 new homes. It is hoped the new offsite construction methods will boost output even further, contributing to the government’s targets for new homes and helping tackle the country’s housing shortage.
Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, said: “This Government has set out the most ambitious housing programme in a generation. We are doubling the housing budget with the ambition to deliver one million more homes for working people.
“That’s why it’s great to be visiting Barratt today and to be given an insight into the benefits of offsite construction on the ground. This innovative approach to housebuilding is a really exciting initiative which is significantly increasing the level and rate of construction, making home ownership possible for more and more people.”
Adrian Farr, Managing Director of Barratt Homes West Midlands, said: “As an innovative and forward-thinking developer we have been investing in offsite construction for some time now and trialling new building methods like these large format blocks at sites like Longford Park. These new building methods have the potential to revolutionise housing construction but it’s a careful process to ensure that quality doesn’t suffer and that there are real efficiencies created.”
Oliver Novakovic, Techncial & Innovation Director Barratt Group, said: “Barratt has done a full review of new methods of construction over the last 3 years and we are now trialling a number of these on live sites. Our objective is to enable our Divisions to have additional options to support their drive to maintain our high standards of quality whilst delivering the high volumes of homes.
“The system, supplied by SIG in conjunction with H&H Celcon, consists of large format blocks 15 times larger than our traditional blocks with an integrated floor, wall and roof.”
Longford Park, located on Oxford Road on the outskirts of Banbury, is a delightful development of quality one, two, three and four bedroom homes, currently in its second phase of work. The development brings a total of 88 new homes to the area.
Set in the idyllic Oxfordshire countryside, home owners can enjoy a rural lifestyle whilst being just two miles from the thriving town centre of historic Banbury, which offers great shops, a selection of schools and convenient transport links.
http://www.barratthomes.co.uk/
Photo: (L-R) Barratt Homes’ Technical and Innovations Director Oliver Novakovic, Barratt Homes West Midlands’ Construction Director Steve Cartwright, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Sajid Javid and Managing Director of Barratt Homes West Midlands Adrian Farr inspect a new property at Longford Park in Bradbury
