The Accord Group social housing association has been granted planning permission to transform a derelict factory into a timber frame assembly “hub” for new housing in Walsall.
To date, said Accord’s chief executive officr Chris Handy, the housing association has been building timber frame homes under licence using imported panels. However, on construction of the new plant on the five-acre site in Beechdale, enough wall panels, floor cassettes and internal partitions to construct around 150 new homes a year will be manufactured.
The new factory, which represents an investment of around £1m, is expected to create 30 jobs in the region.
“For a number of years now we have been building timber homes using panels imported from Norway,” said Mr Handy.
“It’s fantastic that we are now working with the Council to replicate this model in Walsall in order to construct timber panels ourselves and produce low carbon housing for local people that is cheap to run.”
