Vince Cable visits Elephant & Castle to promote prefabricated homes

The cabinet minister visited Delancey's 'Elephant One' development at the corner of New Kent Road and Elephant Road.

Last year we reported that bathrooms in the new homes have been assembled 3,400 miles from Elephant & Castle in a factory in the United Arab Emirates.

The visit coincided with the announcement of a £22 million grant from the Government to accelerate new house building technology, part of a £104 million project which will promote new pre-assembly techniques in house building.

The initiative is led by Laing O'Rourke, the construction firm which is building the Elephant One scheme.

The Government says that producing homes off-site will help increase productivity and reduce costs.

"To meet urgent demand for new affordable homes, the construction industry must embrace new technologies and techniques – and our support will help them do this more quickly," said Vince Cable.

"This reflects the long-term commitment of our industrial strategy to modernising British manufacturing. Working in partnership with industry, targeted investment from government is helping firms exploit new technologies, raise skills levels and improve productivity."

Elephant One (formerly Tribeca Square) will include a new full-size Sainsbury's supermarket and cinema.