Modular housing scheme to start after Forrest collapse

Places For People has drafted in Allenbuild to deliver a 73-home modular scheme on Alaska Street in Blackburn, after previous contractor Forrest entered administration late last year.

PFP secured planning consent for the vacant site next to Highfield Park last summer, and had been looking to deliver a mix of modular homes with Forrest appointed to build the scheme.

However, Forrest collapsed in December last year, and PFP has now appointed London-based Allenbuild to deliver the £11m project, which is due to start on site later this year.

Designed by architect IBI, the project features a mix of modular home types, including two, three, and four-bed houses along with two bungalows. These will be timber-framed and manufactured by off-site firm Modularwise, which is part-owned by PFP.

All the homes will be available for affordable rent. The site was formerly home to a series of terraced houses but these were demolished in 2010.

The scheme is expected to take around 64 weeks to complete, compared with around two years for traditionally-built homes; the scheme is expected to hand over next year.

PFP has previously delivered 159 homes in Blackburn next to the town’s former Royal Infirmary.

Bolton-based Forrest called in administrators on 7 December last year after months of financial difficulties owing its unsecured creditors £22.7m, with some owed more than £1m each.

Forrest originally found itself in difficulty after it unearthed a pre-tax loss of £26m in 2016, which it said was down to accounting “errors”. The company had previously reported a pre-tax profit of £3.6m in 2015 but this was revised heavily downwards to a pre-tax loss of £19.2m. This was followed by a £6.8m loss for the year to 29 February 2016.