Prefabricated homes another option for UK housing shortage
The UK government is considering the construction of 100,000 pre-packaged modular homes to reach its target of one million new homes by 2020. Impressed by the fact that some of these homes can be constructed on-site within 24 hours at a low cost, ministers will release a white paper next month with measures to encourage banks to lend to firms involved in the off-site construction of these homes.

Ministers are planning a new wave of prefabs in a drive to solve Britain’s housing crisis, it has been reported.

More than 100,000 pre-packed modular homes could be constructed as the government looks at ways to meet its target to provide a million new homes by 2020, according to The Sunday Telegraph.

A government white paper due out next month will include measures to encourage banks to lend to firms that construct the homes off-site before delivering them to their final destination, the paper said.

The initiative recalls the reconstruction drive which followed the second world war as prefabs sprung up across the country as the government sought to house families bombed out of their homes by the Germans.

While the prefabs of the 1940 homes were often a byword for poor quality, improvements in technology mean that such concerns are no longer an issue.

Ministers were said to have been impressed by the fact that some of the new generation of prefabs could be put up on site in as little as 24 hours, as well as the potential cost advantages.

The Sunday Telegraph quoted a government source as saying: “The first and most obvious advantage is speeding up the building of housing. There is pretty good evidence that if you did it at scale it is cheaper.”