Viceroy to build Japan earthquake homes
PORT HOPE, ONTARIO--(  March 25, 2011) - Canada's own Viceroy Homes Ltd. (www.viceroy.com), a leading international manufacturer of quality pre-engineered homes, announced today that it is working closely with its exclusive building partner in Japan to immediately begin providing a portion of the 30,000 temporary home units requested by the Japanese government to house victims displaced by the recent devastating earthquake and tsunami in that country.

"Japan has been a very important market for Viceroy Homes for more than 15 years," says Viceroy president Daniel Fox. "We've established very close relationships there over the years and are doing everything possible to help our Japanese customers, colleagues and friends who have endured an unbelievably difficult situation."

For this initiative, Viceroy Homes is working with its exclusive Japanese building partner, Selco Homes, to respond to the Japanese government's request to the nation's building industry to build 30,000 temporary housing units for the 350,000 people now living in evacuation centres in the hardest hit Northern regions of the country.

Selco Homes' head office is located in the northern city of Sendai, at the center of the most heavily damaged prefectures. The Japanese government, which is providing full funding for the building program, has invited Selco to submit a proposal for both temporary and permanent housing solutions in this region. Selco is a key member of the Association of Japanese Builders, which has an immediate mandate to provide approximately 10,000 temporary housing units over the next three months.

Viceroy Homes is working with Selco to design and manufacture a portion of the required temporary housing units, which will be manufactured in Canada with Canadian building materials before being shipped by sea to Japan, where they will be constructed by Selco.

Beyond responding to this initial emergency request from the Japanese government, Viceroy Homes will continue working with its Japanese partner (Selco) to provide permanent housing solutions as Japan looks to re-build upwards of 100,000 single family units over the next three to five years in the devastated Northern region

"We are also prepared to offer our services and technical expertise to the Canadian government should our government decide to include Canadian housing solutions as part of its own disaster relief program for Japan," said Fox.

About Viceroy Homes Ltd.

Founded in 1956, Viceroy Homes Ltd. is Canada's oldest and largest manufacturer of quality pre-engineered housing, with manufacturing facilities in Ontario and British Columbia. Viceroy exports its homes to over 35 countries worldwide. For the past 17 years, Viceroy has partnered with Selco Homes, one of the largest home building companies in Japan. Selco is also one of the largest importers of Canadian housing to Japan. Due to the positive Japanese perceptions of Canadian lumber and the building techniques utilized in Canada, Viceroy Homes has sold upwards of 12,000 housing to Japan over the past decade, alone.
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