South Somerset Homes building new homes for local people
04 May 2004

Dan Brady (Head of Development, SSH), Geoff Atkinson (Chief Executive, SSH), Mike Kay (Director of Asset Management, SSH), MP David Laws in the kitchen of one of the new flats.

South Somerset Homes has this week completed building four new homes for rent in Chard. The homes, which have been built at Victoria Avenue, are two-bedroom flats for local people. The project has been jointly funded by South Somerset Homes, the Housing Corporation and South Somerset District Council with a total build cost of £280,000.

The homes were constructed using cutting edge building technology. The main body of the home (structural walls, roofing and flooring) was supplied by Space 4 ; the UK's largest producer of off site manufactured construction systems , with main contractor ROK completing the internal fitting out and external cladding. South Somerset Homes is the first housing association in the UK to build new homes using Space4.

Geoff Atkinson (Chief Executive, SSH), Steve Payne (Partnering Manager, Rok), MP David Laws in front of the new flats.

The panel system construction process provides South Somerset Homes with an innovative approach that reduces the total construction time by up to 50%. The Space4 construction components are assembled on-site in 1–2 working days: typically a 6-week process for masonry construction.

The insulation panels enable the homes to exceed the Government's latest Building Regulation Part L requirements with outstanding thermal performance, typically scoring a maximum 10 points against the ‘Ecohomes' building measure.

Geoff Atkinson (Chief Executive, SSH), Steve Payne (Partnering Manager, Rok), MP David Laws outside the front door at the flats.

Geoff Atkinson, Chief Executive of South Somerset Homes said, “Whilst this is only a small scheme, it is very significant. This is the start of something much bigger as South Somerset Homes has now embarked on a 10-year plan to provide 2,500 new affordable homes for local people.”

Chris Hyde, Area Director at ROK said, “We are looking forward to working together to provide quality homes for the community in which we work. At ROK we pride ourselves in delivering the best service and look forward to developing our relationship with South Somerset Homes.”

the completed flats from the front.