E-Tribus’s sustainable and eco-friendly self-built homes can be fitted with Project Etopia’s E-‘smart home technology’, giving owners the power to control the lighting, blinds and more, and Etopia’s Energy+ system, which provides the ability to generate and store electricity.
Smart modular homes developer Project Etopia and self-build provider Tribus Homes have partnered and will work together under the name E-Tribus.
E-Tribus’s sustainable and eco-friendly self-built homes can be fitted with Project Etopia’s E-‘smart home technology’, giving owners the power to control the lighting, blinds and more, and Etopia’s Energy+ system, which provides the ability to generate and store electricity.
Joseph Daniels, chief executive of Project Etopia, said: “The housing crisis rumbles on with no clear end in sight, and increasingly people are considering self-build as a way of securing their dream home.
“In our role as a housing provider, we want to ensure everyone has the opportunity to live in their dream home, whether that’s as part of a large development, or one they have built themselves.
“The experience Tribus has in the self-build market makes them the perfect partners to extend our range of homes to those wishing to be their own property developer, wherever they want to live and however they want it to look.”
Lee McArdle, co-founder of Tribus Homes, added: “Expanding into modular building greatly increases the range of homes we can provide people who already have a vision for what their dream home might be.
“By working with Project Etopia, we have access to an ambitious modular homes provider who can help our customers achieve stunning sustainable homes.
“This is a great opportunity for Tribus Homes to enter a new market, and, working with Project Etopia, we can prove the case for modular homes as the way forward across the whole housing market.”
Self-builds have become more popular in recent years as people have struggled to find their perfect home in the area they want to live in, with house prices continuing to soar and many finding it increasingly difficult to get a foot on the property ladder.
The latest available figures show full-time workers can expect to pay 7.8 times their annual earnings to buy a home in England and Wales.
New self-build mortgages have been launched in recent years, while the Welshgovernment has set aside £210m to help people build their own homes, as well as making plots of land available.
The creation of E-Tribus comes after a pilot of four luxury self-built homes in Devon, Somerset, Northamptonshire and Kent.
Self-build homes such as these can cost on average £1,500-3,500 per sqm and take just one to four weeks to build. Because of the modular system, small teams of only three people can construct the homes, and without the need for cranes.
The cost of self-build projects vary considerably, but a hi-tech five-bedroom self-build home designed to a customer’s exact specifications in Wellington, Somerset, cost £400,000 for E-Tribus to build. On average, five-bedroom homes in Wellington go on the market with an asking price of £463,749.
Project Etopia will also continue to tackle the housing crisis with a focus on large-scale developments with affordable homes.
