Kajima housing scheme to be evacuated in two weeks

Every tenant in one of the country's most high profile modular schemes will be moved out by 14 January, as the structure might collapse in severe weather conditions.

Building first revealed in October that faults had been found at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation's 46 unit CASPAR scheme in Leeds, built by Japanese contractor Kajima. At the time, consultant Arup recommended in a report to Kajima that the development be evacuated within three months, as there was a 2% chance that the structure could collapse in severe winds.

The tenants, who will be compensated, are moving to temporary homes so that a more detailed structural survey can be taken after the 14th. It will then be decided whether or not the whole structure should be torn down.

The structure has been in place for six years, and was one of the pioneers of the government's 'modern methods of construction' schemes. The government has made off-site construction central to its policy goal of sustainably building 200,000 extra homes by 2016.