One of the UK’s largest modular villages gets the green light

South Cambridgeshire district council has approved plans for Inholm, a new Fenland village that will be the largest in the UK to be manufactured offsite using modern methods of construction.

The new village of Inholm will comprise a total of 406 modular homes sitting within the context of Northstowe’s masterplan, and is inspired by the area’s rich history and previous settlements. The new neighbourhood quarter will be defined by a perimeter of landscapes; country park, sustainable drainage swales, ecological zones and an education campus.

The development is being brought forward by modern house builder ‘House by Urban Splash,’ a new company backed by regeneration specialists Urban Splash, Homes England and Japan’s biggest house builder, Sekisui House.

Proctor & Matthews Architects is the lead architect and master planner of the site. The village will encompass a range of housing types, later living homes and mixed-use buildings. The modular homes will include designs by architects shedkm, which can be configured by the buyer to their own design before being built in a factory and delivered to site.

The majority of homes will be manufactured in the House factory in Alfreton, East Midlands.

Mark Latham, regeneration director at House said: “We want to break new ground and surprise people using the latest building methods combined with bespoke designs. We are offering a range of customisable homes and apartments to suit a wide range of modern families, lifestyles and budgets. We can’t wait to get going.”

Stephen Kinsella, chief land and development officer at Homes England, said: “This is a really ambitious proposal for 406 homes using modern methods of construction, and the quality design of these homes really reflects our ambition to deliver outstanding places.”

Stephen Proctor, founder of Proctor & Matthews Architects says: “Our design for this contemporary mixed-use residential quarter is inspired by the form of traditional edge-of-fenland settlements and recent archaeological discoveries within the locality. Innovative clusters of homes employing offsite modular construction will help to deliver a visually distinctive narrative creating a new Inholm village for the 21st century.”

Ian Killick, director at shedkm, said: “We are thrilled that the full range of our customisable, factory-built homes is soon coming to Northstowe. The Inholm urban village will feature the most up to date versions of our house and apartment designs, incorporating new technologies and Cambridgeshire inspired materials and details. We’re working with a great team and have high hopes of creating an exemplar neighbourhood that sets a new benchmark for the use of modern methods of construction.”

The new village is part of the second phase of Cambridgeshire’s new town, Northstowe. Once complete, Northstowe will comprise 10,000 new homes. 

The modular homes at the new village of Inholm will be launching officially late spring/ early summer 2020.