11 / 02 / 2019

The cutting of a ribbon marked the unveiling of some of the first homes for Service families created by a £250 million accelerated homebuilding programme on Salisbury Plain.

A total of 917 new homes are being built by partnership homes developer Lovell, in partnership with the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO), for Service personnel and their families returning from Germany to South Wiltshire through the Army Basing Programme (ABP).

Wiltshire Council leader Baroness Jane Scott of Bybrook; Major General Richard Wardlaw, director Basing and Infrastructure and Lovell major projects director John Leary ‘opened’ one of the first homes completed at the Plumer Estate, Ludgershall.  Air Cdre Wendy Rothery, DIO head of Accommodation and ABP director Mark Duddy, also attended the event.

The ribbon-cutting marked a key moment for a trail-blazing, high-volume construction programme being delivered by Lovell. Homes are currently being completed at a rate of 16 per week with the rate set to peak at around 26 per week, far outstripping the typical industry delivery pace of one to two a week.

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Lovell is now on schedule to deliver all 917 new homes at Bulford, Larkhill and Ludgershall by May 2020 – a little over two years since work began.

Lovell major projects director John Leary said: “Thanks to the close working relationship with our project partners, DIO and WYG and the specialist supply chain, our team continues to make excellent progress on this demanding accelerated homes programme. We were delighted to have the opportunity to unveil some of the high-quality homes so far completed and mark the occasion with our guests and project partners.”

The Salisbury Plain homes are being built using a traditional, timber frame solution with Lovell working collaboratively with the DIO and a team of carefully-chosen subcontractors and suppliers.  Lovell believes the programme is achieving faster construction times than any other UK low-rise homes scheme, with the exception of the previous project delivered by the company for the Ministry of Defence at Stafford when it completed 346 homes in just over a year for returning soldiers and their families.