The last of the modules making up 13 new council homes were delivered to Sugden Way, Barking yesterday (Monday, 27January).

Be First, the council’s pioneering regeneration company, commissioned specialist construction company Rollalong to build and deliver the modular homes, which are built offsite and then bolted together and finished on site.

The first modules were lifted into place on Monday 20 January and the last arrived today – making a delivery in just six days.

Councillor Cameron Geddes, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Social Housing visited as the third delivery took place last week.

“I was astonished by the progress”, he said, “but the beauty of this system is that we can construct top quality permanent new homes twice as fast as using traditional methods, and in half the time, meaning significantly less disruption to the neighbours”.

The modern construction method is widely used on the continent and has become renowned for its quality, since the majority of the construction work can be done in controlled conditions and tested rigorously.

Be First appointed Rollalong to design and build 19 modular homes for the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham from its 11-acre manufacturing and head office site in Dorset.

Rollalong Managing Director Steve Chivers commented: “I was very proud to see the initial delivery of modules to the site.  It is a very exciting project which will provide a range of high-quality, affordable housing for people in Barking and Dagenham, and we’re very pleased with progress so far.

“There is a shortage of housing in the borough and our modular alternatives to traditional construction offer a real opportunity to address the shortfall in approximately half the time.”

Tom Mather, Construction Director at Be First, added: “I am delighted with the pace and delivery of the project to date.  This is very much the future of the building industry and we expect to use offsite construction regularly, since we can reliably deliver more quality homes much more quickly.”