THE HOUSING SOLUTION
Our core purpose is to provide a high standard of living, through carefully designed housing that is actually affordable to local communities. To do this, we utilise modern methods of construction to build and fund tenure-blind developments which can be rented out at 40%+ below Open Market Rent (OMR), without compromising on quality.
Through our experience working with different councils across the country we know that a one-size-fit-all approach does not work, understanding the need for flexibility in housing design. The APIO homes are designed to suit all character and planning requirements, following these design principles:
Design Principles:
- Designed with flexibility for internal specification & layouts
- Unconstrained façade & roof finishes to meet any local character & planning requirements
- Maximising off-site construction and minimising time on-site
- Designed by award-winning, UK based design team
- Future proof homes which focus on sustainability in all stages of the design process
- Logistics led design approach
- Designed in Revit (Identical Twin this should be ‘digital twin’ LS to check)
- Designed for tenure-blind housing
OUR MODULAR HOMES
PROMOTING LOCAL SKILLS
Our mission is to deliver a housing solution that helps to target all aspects of the UK housing crisis, which includes the skill shortages within the industry. In all our projects we will be building local capability, employing local people and companies to deliver the onsite works. Through apprenticeship schemes we will build upon skills within each community ensuring our developments leave a lasting positive impact across society.
THE FUNDING SOLUTION (DELIVERY)
APIO is an end-to-end flexible modular housing and funding solution, which is based on creating partnerships with Housing Associations and private & public sector landowners.
We fund the construction, take on the development risk, offer flexible finance options and provide an accelerated construction programme (c.35% reduction compared to traditional construction).
Our model enables the provision of genuinely affordable housing (40%+ discount from OMR) to local communities without any transfer of ownership.
As a collective, one of our frustrations with the current construction system was the large delivery risk which came hand-in-hand with working with a contractor. What if they don’t deliver what they say? What if the price keeps increasing? What if the contractor goes bust half-way? That’s why at APIO we fund the construction so that landowners have no upfront financial outlay until Practical Completion, significantly reducing construction risk.
Payment in Cash
Payment is reserved until the handover, after which the pre-agreed sum can be paid in full.
Payment in Units
APIO agrees to acquire a certain number of units upon project completion, while working with a Registered Social Landlord (RSL) for the balance of the units. Under this agreement, no cash installments are required.
Lease Payment
Typically structured between 30 – 50 years, annual rent is offered significantly below market value with no further charges involved. After the lease period has elapsed, the project becomes the wholly-owned asset of the client, thereby removing the delivery risk on all three options.
Our lease option works so that where landowners such as public bodies or RSL’s do not wish to pay in full upfront, we can take payment across a 30-50-year period. In this model, the homes are leased back to the landowner for an annual fee which is at least 40% below Open Market Rent (OMR) for a period (usually between 30 and 50 years).
During this time, as all our homes are tenure blind, the landowner now has a new mechanism to respond to local market demands and can either provide homes to the community at truly affordable prices or is able to create a profit rent (see graph for further explanation).
By adopting modern methods of construction and utilising our state-of-the-art factory, LiNQ, we can start the manufacture of the homes at the same time as the groundworks on site. By overlapping the programme of onsite and offsite works we typically reduce the full construction programme by 35% in comparison to traditional methods of construction. In real terms this means less disruption to the neighbourhood and an acceleration in project revenue (which on a site of 300 homes based in Kingston upon Thames could mean a rental acceleration of £5m).