Our Leeds team were delighted to lead and host the most recent Insider Yorkshire Property Leader’s Forum. The roundtable focussed on how modular construction could be one solution, as the country’s need for housing and commercial property accelerates.
Pegasus Group Directors Nigel Cussen and Matthew Good were joined by Gemma Smith, Strata Homes, Nigel Banks, Ilke Homes, Jonathan Wilson, Citu, Ryan Geldard, M-AR, Mark Graham, Premier Modular, Dan Brown, HLM Architects, Professor Chris Gorse, Leeds Beckett University, Derek Whitehead, Leeds College of Building, Angela Macready, LCF Law, Vanessa Watson, Chesterfield Borough Council, Shaun O’Brien, CRT Property Investments, and Scott Bibby, CoreHaus.
To read the full roundtable write up, please click here.
Is obtaining planning permission harder for off-site construction builds?
Nigel Cussen “There are challenges in getting across to local authorities about the different product that you bring. Some of the reticence has been on the design side and the perception that modular is more formulaic. Design quality in the planning system is always a key factor.
“I think the message that the MMC industry needs to get across is that there is flexibility. There also needs to be a recognition within authorities that, because of the way construction takes place, there is less ability to make tweaks and minor modifications to design.
Matthew Good “We have seen the issues created by tweaks to the planning application process. Some local authorities need to catch up in terms of design codes and understanding the need to programme these in quite early into the process.
“We still hear a lot about the housing crisis. Hearing from people here on delivery numbers is quite inspiring to produce a far faster delivery process. But if we moved away from just looking at the social side of housing, could we keep pace with market absorption rates?”
For more information on our experience with modular construction schemes, please get in touch.