JV North, which has 12 housing association and local authority members covering Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire, added the modern methods of construction companies to its framework that runs until 2026.

JV North members will advertise its MMC schemes on the Dynamic Purchasing System portal to invite bids.

Overall the consortium associations will build over 4,000 homes in the 2021/26 Affordable Homes Programme.

Chairman of JV North, Wayne Gales, said: “The housing crisis demands responsible homebuilders like our members to think differently and innovate wherever they can.

“If we can find new techniques that streamline the homebuilding process the number of new homes will compound significantly when adopted on a large scale.

“The greater the volume, the more efficient MMC becomes.”

JV North, which dates back to 2007, has a long history of offsite innovation and delivery.

In Liverpool, Torus built a 33-home modular scheme in 2016, which at the time was thought to be largest off-site development delivered by a social housing landlord.

And Wythenshawe Community Housing Group completed a five home modular scheme supported by Homes England which it calculated reduced waste by 80 per cent by being built in a factory.