The boss of Vivid has vowed to continue with its strategy of using modular suppliers despite being affected by Legal & General's (L&G) plans to halt production.
The 33,000-home association had agreed a five-year joint venture (JV) with L&G Modular Homes in December last year for 1,000 homes.
However, last week L&G said it would be ceasing production of modular homes at its giant factory in North Yorkshire.
Chief executive Mark Perry told Inside Housing that he was "surprised and disappointed" to hear the news about L&G.
He added: "I imagine the joint venture will fall to the side and we'll have to find other partners to help us meet our MMC [modern methods of construction] ambitions."
A limited partnership had been set up between the two organisations and was registered with Companies House last November.
However, Mr Perry added: "We've not invested anything really. There's no losses for us at all. We've not get anything in contract with L&G, so it's not like we have stuff on site that is going to fall over."
Vivid, he explained, will use different partners to pursue its MMC ambitions. "With this new technology coming out, you have to back a number of horses," he stated.
Vivid already has a 1,000-home deal with BoKlok, the modular JV between construction giant Skanska and retailer Ikea. Vivid signed a deal with the Swedish firm in 2020 and is "just nearing" the completion of its first scheme, Mr Perry said.
L&G told Inside Housing: "Proposals to reduce business activity and cease new modular production in the factory do not impact our obligations to our existing customers and we will retain a select workforce to ensure high-quality delivery and aftercare services across all our existing schemes."
Other housing associations working with L&G Modular Homes have also played down the impact.
Yorkshire Housing acquired 31 homes on L&G's site in Selby, North Yorkshire. A spokesperson it was "working through the impact for our scheme in Selby, which is substantially complete".
Peabody-owned Town and Country Housing is a partner on L&G's modular scheme in Broadstairs, Kent.
Colin Lissenden, development director at Town & Country Housing, told Inside Housing: "We were very sorry to hear L&G's announcement as we've been on a positive journey with them and are very pleased with the outcome at our Westwood Acres development.
"As per L&G's statement, they are going to honour existing contracts and as such we do not envisage any issues with the Broadstairs project."
Original source: https://www.insidehousing.co.uk
