Skanska announces its entrance to the UK residential market

The Swedish-founded contractor plans to build around 800 homes a year in the UK by 2015 which will give the company half a percent market share and place it in the top 20 housebuilders in the country, the contractor said. 

Skanska residential has chosen six architects to work with on future housing developments through a framework panel. The architects chosen are, PRP Architects; CF Møller; Proctor and Matthews Architects; Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios; White Design and; Formation Architects. 

“The ambition is to grow to something like 800 homes a year by 2015," said Jamie Wilding, development manager of Skanska Residential. “It would give us something like a half a percent market share if [the UK] were building 200,000 homes a year, which is what we really need to be building,” Wilding said.

The firm will focus on three areas of the country - London, an eastern region comprising Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and Essex and a third area located around Bristol, Bath and Cheltenham, Wilding said. 

Skanska will focus on the premium sector and will maintain a strong focus on family homes, the contractor said. All homes will be built to at least a code level 4 and will be spacious, with one-bed flats having a floorspace of about 52 metres square. 

Last month Skanska was granted planning permission for its first British housing development designed by Formation Architects at Great Kneighton in Cambridgeshire and the first homes are expected to be ready by 2012. Last month the contractor announced the purchase of a second site, again in Cambridgeshire. 

"This decision [Homes by Skanska] followed a comprehensive review of the UK market, which identified a high-volume, long term need for high-quality residential properties in the UK," Skanska said. "This, coupled with the extensive environmental requirements placed on new UK homes fits perfectly with Skanska’s knowledge and experience."