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Westframe, the timber frame manufacturing division of Leicester property developer Westleigh Developments Ltd, has experienced a surge in demand as a result of the Housing Corporation’s £8.4 billion National Affordable Housing Programme (NAHP). The Enderby-based factory has doubled its production levels since Westleigh’s Partnership Homes division announced a total investment of £60m worth of funding into creating 503 affordable homes in the region – all of which will be built using Westframe’s eco-friendly timber frames. The increase, from 600m of frame per week to 1,200m, has also resulted in twelve new operatives being hired to build timber panels. Dave Thacker, General Manager at Westframe, comments, “We are delighted that the funding received by Partnership Homes from the Housing Corporation has led to a significant increase in demand for our frames and enabled us to nearly double our workforce. Timber is the only truly sustainable material and provides thermally efficient new homes that are faster to construct, cost effective, durable and factory assured. “With all housing associations now demanding high levels of sustainability and a further £100m of investment anticipated - consisting of a further £50m subsidy and £50m from Westleigh - within the region over the next two years, the future for Westframe looks very positive, with the possibility of further growth and further employment opportunities.” Westframe was launched six years ago in response to government requirements for developers to utilise modern methods of construction (MMC), particularly for the social housing market. It manufactures an average of 79 metres of timber frame per dwelling, so will use approximately 40,000 metres of frame whilst building these 503 new homes. The production of timber frames for the construction industry is a growing market worth more than £600 million a year, with a recent report from the UK Timber Frame Association revealing an estimated market share of 25 percent. With the requirements of the Government’s Code for Sustainable Homes being taken into consideration by developers, this figure could even grow. It is estimated that timber frame will grow more than twice as fast as other MMC with large percentages of social housing – over 75% in Scotland and 17% in the much larger English market - being of a timber frame construction.. The Housing Corporation’s £8.4 billion NAHP aims to raise value and quality in housing between 2008 and 2011. The investment programme, the largest undertaken in the Corporation’s history, plans to provide 155,000 new affordable homes – 100,000 for affordable rent and 50,000 for low cost ownership. The Partnership Homes division of Westleigh Developments is one of the biggest providers of affordable housing in partnership with housing associations in the area. It received the largest proportion of funding in the region.
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