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The Canadian High Commission has backed plans by a housing manufacturer to crack the market for off-site manufactured social housing in the UK.

The company, Alouette Homes, which builds the timber panel 鈥淪uper E鈥� home, has just completed its first UK social home for Kent-based Kelsey Housing Association.

The news follows the call at the Labour party conference by John Prescott for housebuilders 鈥渇rom here and abroad鈥� to build homes for 拢60,000. It also comes after Hyde Housing Group began importing off-site manufactured homes from Poland.

Following the Bognor Regis trial, which was constructed by contractor Osborne, Kelsey plans to roll out the technology on a larger scheme of 22 homes in Surrey and if this

proves successful across 鈥渁 large part鈥� of its 300-home, 拢25m annual development programme (HT 7 November, page 17).

Andrew Fellows, chief executive of Kelsey, said: 鈥淭he pilot was about 15% more expensive to construct than a conventionally built home 鈥� about 拢1400 per square metre. However the real saving for us in the length of time it takes to build.

The real saving for us is in the length of time it takes to build 鈥� about three weeks rather than 12 to 14

Andrew Fellows, Kelsey Housing Association

鈥淔rom when it came out of the sea container it took about three weeks, compared with 12 to 14 weeks for a traditional home.

鈥淲e would like to roll this out to a large part of our development programme and would continue to import the homes from Canada. We would prefer to source from a UK manufacturer but just cannot get the quality in the UK that we can from the Canadians.鈥�

Fellows added that the use of Super E 鈥� an airtight, energy-efficient home 鈥� was being backed by tax breaks from the Canadian government, which is keen to expand the use of the technology in the UK.

鈥淲e get incredible support from the Canadian government as they see a real market for this in the UK,鈥� he added.

Judith Harrison, director of innovation body the Housing Forum, said: 鈥淚n many ways you can鈥檛 fault them if they can鈥檛 get what they want in the UK. Undoubtedly, it would be more sustainable if UK goods could equal this standard. But if there is not the same quality of product in the UK then perhaps like cars and IT it will be sourced elsewhere.鈥�