US housebuilding giant eyes stake in UK modular firm

Steve DeFrancis speaking at the Bisnow conference

US-based housebuilding giant Cortland Partners is in talks to buy a stake in an unnamed UK modular housebuilder, according to reports.

Steven DeFrancis, chief executive of the company which owns more than 49,000 apartment homes in the US and has offices in China and the UK, told the audience at the Bisnow Multifamily Annual Conference Southeast last week that his business was looking to acquire a stake.

“We are looking at modular development. It is much more accepted in the U.K. than it is in the States, but we do think that’s the way the world is going,” DeFrancis said.

He told Bisnow that the deal was expected to happen within the next 10 days.

A spike in activity in offsite manufactured housing is taking place in the UK as the government tries to hit its target of building 300,000 homes a year by 2020.

Among the players in the market are: Ilke Homes, the modular housing business formed by housing contractor Keepmoat and Elliott Group; Tide Construction, which aims to build the world’s largest modular building in Croydon, reaching 42 storeys; Urban Splash, which has bought the offsite construction business from materials giant SIG; and Berkeley Group which plans to build modular homes at a factory in Ebbsfleet.