Starship makes the list in £600m DPS

Building Better, an alliance of 29 housing associations and councils, has appointed six firms, including Wirral-based Starship Homes, to a dynamic purchasing system for 2D panelised solutions.

At present, Halton Housing is the only North West-based member of the Building Better alliance, which is supported by the National Housing Federation.

This new dynamic purchasing system (DPS) for MMC category 2 construction systems, assembled on-site, will run in parallel with Building Better’s first MMC framework which launched in July 2021 and covers category 1 volumetric 3D systems.

The alliance aims to give members access to a range of different MMC solutions so they can find the right one for their site.

The six firms selected are Future Built, LoCal Homes, Project Etopia, Roe Timberframe, Sigmat and Starship Homes, which was recently confirmed as the first tenant at Hythe in Wirral Waters.

The DPS is worth £600m over four years.

Building Better took the decision to create a DPS, rather than a fixed framework, so panelised manufacturers can join at any point during the term of the DPS.

Since the launch of its volumetric framework in 2021, alliance members have put nearly 40 schemes through it, covering more than 900 MMC homes. With the launch of its DPS, Building Better aims to help the social housing sector to produce around 5,000 MMC properties by 2026.

Trina Chakravarti, project director of Building Better said: “The emerging nature of this part of the MMC marketplace means that social housing organisations have, to date, been wary of category 2. Some told us they were anxious about committing to a panelised manufacturer; not knowing if the company or even this form of MMC would be around in four years.

“Because of this, we knew a different procurement approach was needed; one that would still provide high standards and ease of access like our category 1 framework, but a solution that didn’t ‘clip the wings’ of manufacturers operating in such a fluid environment.”