A housing association has opened a new storage base in the Black Country to support its work to provide hundreds of affordable homes for rent and purchase across the Midlands.
The Accord Group has recently taken a 20,246 sq ft unit at the Bloxwich Lane Estate, Walsall, to store panels for timber framed houses made at its Walsall plant which will be constructed in areas of housing need.
It chose the estate, which is owned and managed by London and Cambridge Properties Limited (LCP), because of the proximity to its manufacturing facility and its distribution network, with the unit being located just off Junction 10 of the M6. The unit will also provide the capacity for expansion to meet future storage demands.
Alan Yates, Executive Director of Regeneration at the Accord Group, said: “We are now manufacturing homes not just for the Accord Group but also for external customers. In addition, we are about to launch other new products which should enable us to train and employ more people. It is fantastic to be part of the manufacturing renaissance in the Black Country.”
The Accord Group was the first in the UK to manufacture low-cost, energy efficient timber homes. Its LoCal Homes factory in Beechdale, Walsall, enables the Group to produce one offsite-manufactured low carbon home each day.
The homes produce on average 50 per cent of the carbon emissions of traditional brick built homes and 50 per cent lower fuel bills.
The timber panels made at the LoCal factory can be quickly erected on site in just one day, providing insulated two, three and four bedroom houses and bungalows.
The Bloxwich Lane Estate is a mile from Walsall town centre and provides ready access to Junction 10 of the M6, which is approximately a quarter of a mile away. It has other units from 21,245 sq ft to 83,321 sq ft available for let.
Black Country-based LCP is one of the UK’s largest private owners of industrial, office and retail property. Its property portfolio runs to in excess of 14 million sq ft which is held for long term investment purposes.