Press release

• Europe’s tallest modular residential tower on Mapleton Crescent in Wandsworth.

• Total GDV of £39,754,988 – Pocket’s highest on a site with planning permission.

• Pocket’s first development in Wandsworth.

• 53 new affordable homes for local people in Wandsworth.

London’s fastest growing housing developer Pocket has broken ground at their latest affordable scheme on Mapleton Crescent in Wandsworth – a 26 storey tower built entirely from modular units. Wandsworth Council Leader Cllr Ravi Govindia kicked off construction on the innovative project by breaking the ground on site. 

The 89 unit development is Pocket’s first in Wandsworth and the fourth utilising the latest techniques in modular construction. Modular techniques see completed flats assembled in factories before being transported to sites and installed with cranes.

The use of modular construction on the site will shave around six months off the tower’s total build time and see the project completed in summer 2018. If scaled up more widely, Pocket believes that modular construction could increase the number of houses available and help tackle London’s housing crisis.  

The site has a total GDV of £39,754,988; to date this is Pocket’s highest GDV on a site with planning permission.

The site will feature 53 affordable flats to be sold outright at a discount of at least 20% to first time buyers and 36 private flats. The development will also feature a communal roof terrace on the twenty fourth floor.

Modular construction is gaining interest from politicians at all levels of Government; Communities Secretary Sajid Javid, Housing Minister Gavin Barwell and London’s Deputy Mayor for Housing James Murray, have all visited Pocket to discuss how modular construction could help solve the housing crisis. 

Pocket is now one of the capital’s fastest growing affordable developers. With the help of a £26.4m loan from the Mayor of London’s housing covenant fund and a landmark strategic investment from American housing giant Related Companies, 

Pocket homes are built for Londoners priced out of the property market and salaried out of social housing – designed for singles and couples with an average household income of around £40,000. 

Cllr Govindia said: 

“I’m delighted Pocket’s first Wandsworth-based housing development is now under way. These compact starter homes are a superb innovation and offer a new affordable housing option in the heart of Wandsworth town centre. I’m sure they will be a popular choice with local residents and we hope to see more schemes like this developed in the years ahead. 

“The building’s design is equally impressive, particularly the green ceramic cladding system which will be another first for Wandsworth. The emphasis on creating such high quality communal areas is another welcome innovation.” 

Pocket’s Chief Executive Marc Vlessing said:

“If we’re able to scale up modular construction it has the potential to help solve London’s housing crisis. Factory built modular homes are quicker to build than conventional buildings and result in significantly less disruption to local residents - with 60% fewer trucks coming to sites and 90% less waste.

“To increase the number of modular developments constructed we need to find ways to support SME builders who are able to respond to local need and build 100 to 200 homes at a time.”