Bristol City Council secures £3m for innovative housing

Bristol City Council has secured a £3m grant to help explore innovative housing solutions in the city.

This new project, funded by Innovate UK, aims to unlock the current barriers, and enable the council and its partners to examine how using Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) can help to cut the costs of housing production and increase the speed of delivery.

The project is a partnership between Bristol City Council, the Bristol Housing Festival, YTKO, the British Research Establishment and nine leading modular housing companies.

By trialling new methods of house building, the project aims to improve the speed, cost and social value of nearly £78m of housing set to be built in the city over the next five years.

Using traditional methods, it has not been possible to provide enough homes to tackle the housing crisis.

‘Building enough affordable housing is one of the biggest challenges we face across the country, and as a city we are not afraid to explore innovative ways of delivering better value, high quality, homes,’ said Bristol mayor, Marvin Rees.

‘This project is only possible thanks to the collaboration of our many partners across the housing sector. I would like to thank everyone who played a part in securing this funding, and I am looking forward to seeing what exciting developments come forward as a result.’

The head of construction and sustainability at YTKO, Phil Stott, added: ‘Having the opportunity to lead such an exciting and innovative partnership is very exciting for YTKO. We’ve been delivering construction projects in Bristol for years and working with the council to unlock MMC innovation is an important step to overcoming the UK housing crisis. Jobs for local people, lower energy costs, quicker builds and more affordable housing are all possible thanks to this funding from Innovate UK.’

Photo Credit – Borevina (Pixabay)