Ilke Homes: Yorkshire modular construction firm dubbed 'the future of housebuilding' which received £30million in Homes England funding to be prosecuted for health and safety offences

A collapsed Yorkshire construction company whose modular homes were hailed as the ‘future of housebuilding’ is being prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive.
Grace Newton
By Grace Newton
Published 14th Sep 2023, 11:32 BST
Updated 15th Sep 2023, 08:06 BST

Knaresborough-based Ilke Homes entered administration in July, only five years after it was founded in 2018 to pioneer the concept of modular construction – where houses are built in a factory then erected in parts on a site.

Ilke was awarded £30million in government funding from Homes England in the hope that its supply could solve housing shortages, and it created a ‘pipeline’ of 3,000 properties, working with developers, housing associations and councils. The manufacturing site at Flaxby also included a large training academy.

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Yet the business, despite its insolvency, is facing a criminal charge for health and safety offences at York Crown Court, and will stand trial next March.

The Ilke Homes factory at Flaxby, near Knaresborough, in 2019The Ilke Homes factory at Flaxby, near Knaresborough, in 2019
The Ilke Homes factory at Flaxby, near Knaresborough, in 2019

The Health and Safety Executive is prosecuting Ilke under the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations Act 1998, with the allegation that the company failed to ensure that lifting operations to transport floor cassettes across the factory via overhead travelling crane were properly planned, appropriately supervised and carried out in a safe manner.

Their actions allegedly exposed an employee named Ben Fisher and others to risk of serious personal injury.

It is not clear how the administration of Ilke will affect trial proceedings. Around 1,150 staff are believed to have been made redundant by the collapse.