Pocket Living has appointed Elements Europe to deliver a modular solution to a 21 storey residential tower.

The £30m development is set to be one of the UK’s tallest modular residential builds. Addiscombe Grove is a 100% affordable housing scheme delivered by London’s fastest growing affordable housing developer Pocket Living.

Elements Europe will manufacture, deliver and install 300 modules to the scheme which make up 153 new affordable homes, positioning Elements Europe as one of the leading offsite housing suppliers, with recent projects totalling over 1250 modules across 500 homes.

Simon Underwood Managing Director of Elements Europe commented “We are pleased to be involved in this collaborative approach to delivering new homes in the UK. Pocket Living has embraced modular construction and are now a market leader in the delivery of this form of construction”.

The development is set to complete in spring 2020, and by using modular construction, Pocket Living estimate they have reduced the build programme by a third compared to using conventional methods.

The Pocket homes will be discounted at 20% of the local market rate to help local first-time buyers own their home. The homes stay affordable in perpetuity and they are always restricted to first-time buyers living locally who are eligible for affordable housing (as defined by the Mayor of London).

Lucian Smithers, Director at Pocket Living commented “We aspire to lead the way in the housing sector using modular construction – delivering homes faster, reducing disruption to local communities and increasing the genuinely affordable housing provided. Elements Europe, with its expertise and vast experience in the modular sector, is the ideal partner to help us realise this ambition.” She added.

The site originally had planning permission to deliver just 12% affordable housing before Pocket Living took the site on with the promise to significantly upscale the affordable housing provision. Pocket Living and Optivo struck a deal in July 2018 which sees affordable housing maximised.

The announcement came as Shadow Housing Minister and local Croydon Central MP Sarah Jones broke the ground on the affordable housing scheme near East Croydon station. The Shadow Housing Minister praised the collaborative approach and the “real commitment to affordable housing” through the use of modern methods of construction.