For years, prefabricated housing has teetered on the verge of being the next big thing. Finally, it is to be the next big thing. In Birmingham next week, housing minister Lord Rooker is expected to announce a sizeable chunk of money specifically for factory-built homes when he unveils the Housing Corporation's approved development programme (see news section).

The benefits of construction in factories rather than on site are well-known. Homes can be built quicker and with fewer defects, higher energy efficiency and better noise insulation. As the Peabody Trust – undisputed trailblazer of the technology – has proved, off-site manufacture can also mean design flair. In fact, this new breed of homes couldn't be further from the 156,000 prefabs erected after the Second World War to meet the housing shortage then.

But until now, despite encouragement from the Housing Corporation, the response to modern prefab has been lukewarm. When John Prescott was in charge of housing in the late 1990s, the corporation launched its Kickstart programme with a target to build around £80m-worth of schemes using some form of factory-built technology. Local authorities weren't convinced, neither were many lenders. More importantly, there was little enthusiasm from housebuilders, many of whom provide the land as well as building the homes as part of their section 106 agreements. Kickstart has struggled to meet its targets.

Without volume, prefabricated housing doesn't really make sense. Financially, every project becomes a one-off, the learning curve is steep, and the costs are high.It's a bespoke suit, with a price tag to match, rather than an off-the-peg garment.

Finally, prefab housing is going to be the next big thing

What John Prescott, a passionate advocate of prefabrication, is now providing is the vital missing ingredient that will make the technology work: a massive order book.

As part of his commitment to delivering the promises made in the comprehensive spending review, Prescott – via Rooker – looks likely to order mass production of homes for sites owned by English Partnerships that already have been granted planning permission. Fortuitously, Prescott's zeal for the technology coincides with a change of heart among private housebuilders, with even the most traditional of them gearing up to harness some form of off-site manufacture. As a result, many in the sector believe demand could now easily be met.

Source

Housing Today