Midlands contractor to build £30m Croydon modular tower

Modular contractor Elements Europe has won a £30m deal with Pocket Living to build a 21-storey residential tower in south London.

The company will manufacture over 300 modules at its West Midlands factory before delivering them to the Addiscombe Grove development in Croydon, which will be one of the UK’s tallest modular residential towers when complete.

Addiscombe Grove will provide 153 new affordable homes, including 112 one-bedroom apartments, and is set to complete in spring 2020.

Pocket Living estimates that its modular construction reduces the build programme by a third compared to using conventional methods.

The one-bedroom apartments will be discounted at 20% of the local market rate to help first-time buyers own their home. The homes stay affordable in perpetuity and they are always restricted to first-time buyers living locally who are eligible for affordable housing (as defined by the Mayor of London). 

The remaining 41 homes will be shared-ownership and provided by Croydon-based housing provider Optivo.

The site originally had planning permission to deliver 12% affordable housing before Pocket Living took the site on with the promise to significantly upscale the affordable housing provision. Pocket Living and Optivo struck a deal in July 2018 to maximise the affordable housing.

Simon Underwood, managing director of Elements Europe said: “We are pleased to be involved in this collaborative approach to delivering new homes in the UK. Pocket Living has embraced modular construction and are now a market leader in the delivery of this form of construction”.

Lucian Smithers, director at Pocket Living, said: “We aspire to lead the way in the housing sector using modular construction – delivering homes faster, reducing disruption to local communities and increasing the genuinely affordable housing provided. Elements Europe, with its expertise and vast experience in the modular sector, is the ideal partner to help us realise this ambition.”