PLACE (Pan-London Accommodation Collaborative Enterprise) Ltd, a not-for-profit company committed to tackling homelessness in the capital, has released an invitation aimed at modular homes specialists for a £75 million contract that involves the design and manufacture of houses that can be moved from site to site.

What PLACE is looking for is precision-manufactured family homes that will have the quality of permanent housing, but can also be moved from one site to another as required. Those homes will be placed on vacant sites that would otherwise remain underused over the short to medium term.

Modular building will be used in order to provide high quality, local and temporary accommodation for people who need a home. This is the first time UK local authorities have collaborated to acquire modular housing for this purpose, with PLACE being hosted by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. This project has an initial target of delivering 200 modular homes across the capital.

“Our aim is to challenge and inspire the housing design and construction industry to create an innovative and high-quality product to meet London’s opportunities and needs head-on,” said Mark Baigent, PLACE Ltd’s Director.

“We want to procure attractive and spacious factory-built homes that can be easily moved from site to site around London. We look forward to sharing our vision and seeing what the rapidly growing modular market can offer,” he continued.

The launch event will be hosted by PLACE on Wednesday, the 25th of July at London Borough of Tower Hamlets Council Chambers, with the winning firm expected to be delivering a mixture of two and three bedroom family properties.

The deadline for submissions of the Expression of Interest Selection Questionnaire is the 15th of August 2018.