1 July 2013
Self build champion Kevin McCloud has launched a campaign to raise £1.5m to expand his housing development company Hab Housing and has announced the firm’s ambition to lead the growth of the custom build market in the UK.
Hab Housing was established in 2007 and initially delivered a scheme of 42 homes at The Triangle, Swindon. It is currently on site with a second 78-home scheme in Stroud, and has several more schemes in pipeline.
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Funding to expand
The drive for new investment comes as Hab seeks to expand its offer to include custom build, self build and self finish options. It is offering 20 per cent of the business via Crowdcube – an equity crowdfunding website for businesses – with the minimum investment set at £100. In return, the company aims to grow quickly and targets to pay a dividend of no less than 5% from the end of 2016. Investors will also be offered a 5% saving on any purchase of a Hab home.
McCloud said: “We’re keen to demonstrate that building, or customising your own home can be both pleasurable and affordable. Our aim is to start to bridge the gap between the scale and ambition of the traditional self-builders and the efficiency and affordability of volume house-building, in other words to take self-building from ‘niche to mainstream’.”
Big project planned
The Self Build Portal understands that Hab, in collaboration with housing association GreenSquare, has agreed an option with a landowner for a major development on the banks of the River Severn, south of Gloucester.
The Hab / Green Square team is now entering a process of consultation with a view to making an outline planning application for Phase 1 which will provide up to 1500 units over next 10-15 years. The partners believe that this scheme could grow to 3,000 homes in due course, many of which could be custom build units.
Additional schemes in the pipeline include a site for 25 units on a village site south of Bristol and a site for around 12 units in village close to Bath.
| GALLERY: Hab Housing Schemes | ||
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More information: Hab Housing live web conference – 30th July 2013
