A North Yorkshire housebuilder has reportedly told hundreds of its staff to stay at home this week as it aims to find a buyer.

Ilke Homes of Flaxby, near Kanresborough, sent hundreds of staff home on Friday blaming “volatile macro-economic conditions and issues with the planning system.”

In a statement issued over the weekend, the company said: “A sale would allow the company to deliver its 4,200-home pipeline following triple-digit revenue growth over the last three years.”

 The company’s £1 billion order book is predominantly made up of affordable homes, meaning that without a new investor, much-needed housing will not be delivered. 

Established five years ago, ilke Homes’ client base includes major institutional investors, housing associations, volume housebuilders and local authorities.

Until very recently, the company has been ramping up the delivery of high-quality, sustainable housing from its 250,000 sq. ft factory in Flaxby, close to the A1 motorway.

The statement said the company and its advisers have been exploring fundraising options and the existing backers are hopeful of securing a future for the business via a sale or investment, to enable it to deliver on its 4,200-home pipeline and protect its workforce. 

Ilke’s factory harnesses digital design and precision-manufacturing techniques to produce NHBC-accredited homes that are zero-carbon in operation and well-designed. 

The company has delivered the UK’s first-ever homes to guarantee residents no energy bills as part of its ZERO Bills offering, which was launched as part of a pioneering partnership with Octopus Energy Group in 2022. 

In 2020, ilke Homes launched its turnkey development offering, where the company acquires land, secures planning permission and develops the site. This has been complicated by uncertainty over planning policy and rising build costs. 

The company said: “While having delivered strong contribution margins, ilke Homes now requires new investment to meet overheads, achieve further scale and become cash flow positive.”

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Furthermore, the statement continued: “The wider UK housing market has been hit by rapidly rising interest rates, which has reduced demand and resulted in housing starts falling below pre-pandemic levels.

“Official government figures have also revealed that planning applications in England have fallen to their lowest level in at least 16 years, thanks to uncertainty over planning policy and heightened build costs, highlighting the scale of the challenge in improving housing delivery.”

However, it added: “Industry and government net zero targets, combined with cost-of-living crisis, have meant that there is a growing focus on improving the quality of the UK’s housing stock.

“Construction techniques have remained unchanged for the last 100 years, resulting in deficiencies in build quality and energy performance.”