Insurance giant Aviva is supporting 1,000 new jobs with a £20 million investment in a low carbon home builder. Its investment arm Aviva Capital Partners is putting the money into TopHat – which makes sustainable modular homes – to support a new factory in Corby, Northants, which could create 1,000 new jobs.
The factory is set to open in the summer of 2024, and it has been reported that it will be Europe’s biggest modular housing factory, capable of putting together 4,000 ultra-low carbon homes every year.
Increase UK Housing Supply
TopHat has developed a way of using robotics and lean manufacturing techniques to “increase housing supply, improve quality, reduce costs and protect the environment”. It says its homes are ultra-low carbon to build and to run, significantly reducing living costs.
Overall, it says, the construction of a TopHat home emits 12 per cent of the carbon compared to building a traditional home of the same size, helped by features such as air source heat pumps and high specification insulation.
The new 650,000 sq ft TopHat factory will be the size of 11 football pitches and will builds on the success of its existing site in Derby which builds up to 800 homes a year.
Aviva Capital Partners chief executive John Cummins said: “Aviva is using its financial strength to invest in the sustainable infrastructure and real estate which are central to the UK’s net zero transition.
“TopHat is a pioneer of low-carbon homes and this investment will make sustainable housing more widely available, making a difference to communities and providing a retirement income for our customers.”
TopHat founder and chief executive Jordan Rosenhaus said the deal was testament to the innovative approach the business continued to take to house-building.
He said: “It has been clear for some time that designing and building green, beautiful homes in factories is a critical part of solving the housing crisis – and today’s announcement will enable TopHat to reach the scale where the new generation of modular homes can be made available to everyone.”
The new Corby facility will be the anchor tenant in a new Magna Park site being developed by logistics developer GLP.
As of December 31, 2022, total assets under management at Aviva Group were £352 billion.