TopHat, the Volumetric Modular house builder, has agreed a £15 million debt facility with Homes England.
It follows previous news that TopHat raised £70 million from existing and new shareholders including listed housebuilder Persimmon and institutional investor Aviva Capital Partners.
The new investment raised this year by TopHat will be transformational for the company, enabling it to scale-up production and accelerate manufacturing capacity as it draws closer to opening Europe’s largest modular housing factory in Corby, Northamptonshire in 2024.
TopHat currently manufactures energy-efficient homes from its first factory in Derby, which is capable of delivering 800 homes a year. The company will begin production from its 650,000 square feet advanced manufacturing facility in Corby in 2024, where it will employ 1,000 people from the local community and manufacture up to 4,000 ultra-low carbon homes every year.
Jordan Rosenhaus, CEO of TopHat, said: “The investment TopHat has received from Homes England alongside others, including Goldman Sachs, Persimmon and Aviva Capital Partners, reflects the continuing recognition that it is simply not possible to build enough new homes, including affordable homes, without a strong volumetric modular sector.
“Following some recent, well-publicised challenges, which will always be faced by pioneering, innovative sectors, I am especially pleased that our investors have all recognised the critical importance of expanding the capacity of the sector.”
The debt facility is funded via Homes England’s Levelling Up Home Building Fund, which supports innovative developers to build more homes more quickly.
Peter Denton, Chief Executive of Homes England, said: “This funding will support TopHat to manufacture more than four times the number of new homes it currently can each year. Not only will this significantly increase the delivery capacity of the MMC sector as a whole in the UK, it will also create 1,000 jobs.
“It is vital we continue to support innovations that promote a diverse, efficient homebuilding sector. This is about a long-term commitment to driving forward the creation of quality, thriving places for people to live and work.”
Persimmon plc, the listed homebuilder, invested in TopHat earlier in 2023 establish a strategic partnership between the two businesses that provides guaranteed access to both TopHat’s innovative brick façade product as well as highly energy efficient modular homes.
Pilot homes have been built by TopHat as part of Persimmon’s scheme in Stroud, Gloucestershire with additional further opportunities identified. Detailed technical work continues to integrate the brick façade with Persimmon’s own Space4 timber frame panels.
Dean Finch, Group Chief Executive of Persimmon, said: “We are delighted that Homes England has joined this year’s funding round and demonstrated its commitment to the important role TopHat’s brick façade product and volumetric modular homes can play in meeting our country’s housing needs.
“We continue to work closely with Jordan and his team to build upon our initial pilot scheme to develop a larger work plan that incorporates TopHat’s products into our build programme.”
