Prefab homes have a reputation for being gloomy and uncomfortable, because of the popular image of mass-produced utility housing built after the Second World War for those made homeless by bombing (see box, right). But demand for affordable homes has been escalating beyond supply in the last few years and now experts are looking again at prefabricated buildings as an answer to today's social housing crisis.
Fast and fabulous
Prefab fans will tell you that modern-day factory-made homes are remarkable for their quality and the speed of their construction. Costs and construction time for prefab are 10% less than in traditional housebuilding and defects are cut by 20%, according to modular manufacturer Yorkon.
There are other advantages, too: construction work is less fragmented because it cuts out the subcontractors involved in the orthodox building process. Building in a factory rather than a construction site is less weather-dependent and also much safer; there is less waste and less noise and disruption for neighbours as pre-built units are hoisted into place on site. This is because prefab buildings are either made using flatpack floors and walls, which are assembled on site – called the modular system – or else rooms or even entire apartments are built in a factory before being transported to the site – this is called volumetric prefabrication.
Sometimes, prefab building methods don't work out to be cheaper than traditional construction; for example, building Peabody's Murray Grove scheme in east London cost about 5% more than it would have done if traditional construction methods had been used. But enthusiasts say this is more than compensated for by the extra income garnered from schemes being completed earlier. Also, higher standards of insulation mean flats should be more energy-efficient and therefore cheaper to run.
The Peabody Trust is leading the pro-prefab movement. Murray Grove, in Hackney, east London, kick-started the factory-built renaissance and demonstrates how mass-production can be used successfully in low-cost housing. Completed in March 1998, its 30 ready-made homes took just seven months to build. Rent is £140 a week for a one-bedroom flat, compared to about £230 a week for traditionally constructed flats in the same area.
Construction used technology similar to modern car production. Each module was already fitted with electrics, doors, windows and carpets before it left the factory, and the units were then craned into place.
The rise of the pod people
Peabody development director Dickon Robinson ran an architectural competition among young architects to find ideas for the modular housing used at Murray Grove. The winning design, by architect Cartwright Pickard, was praised for its high quality architecture. Its terracotta exterior and balconies are a world away from the ugly, industrial look of post-war prefabs.
Factory-built homes are also successfully in use abroad. In Finland, more than half of new housing is prefabricated, and in Sweden, furniture retailer Ikea has begun selling prefab homes with Ikea furnishings already installed. It's Japan, though, that leads the way in prefab: there, customised houses bought off the shelf are almost more common than traditionally built homes. Tiny, modular apartments known as microflats were developed by Japanese architects in the late 1960s and early 1970s, epitomised X X by the Capsule Tower. Built in Tokyo in 1972, it consists of 140 prefabricated, pod-like flats with circular windows.
Even in the UK, prefab has remained in use during the past few decades, with the commercial world making the most use of prefab components for budget hotels and fast-food restaurants.
Government backing
Former housing minister Lord Falconer announced in May that the government would release publicly-owned land for free so that prefab homes could be built more cheaply. "It's comfortable, beautiful housing," said Falconer. "I would like to see thousands built every year."
Last year, the Housing Corporation announced its £80m Kickstart programme, the funding earmarked to help social landlords create prefabricated housing.
The London Development Agency, the economic regeneration arm of the Greater London Authority, has given a £4.5m grant to the Keep London Working initiative. The initiative – involving seven London boroughs, the Peabody Trust, the NHS executive, bus companies, private developers and employers' organisations – is designed to help generate key-worker housing through prefab.
London mayor Ken Livingstone is an enthusiastic supporter of modular housing. He sees it as a possible solution to the key-worker housing crisis. In March, Livingstone threw his weight behind portable "flatpack homes", or microflats, announcing that thousands are to be sold beneath their market value at a price of between £65,000 and £90,000, on a shared ownership basis. It's "the ideal answer to getting young professionals into London and keeping them", he said.
The first 180 or so flats, designed by young architect firm Piercy Conner are expected to go on sale in London Docklands later this year. Prefabrication means they could potentially be dismantled and rebuilt temporarily elsewhere, perhaps in areas not usually deemed suitable for housing, such as disused car parks or playing fields. Flats will also be made available for rent, from £65 a week. Priority for both ownership and rental will be given to people earning less than £30,000 a year.
The downside
The general consensus is, so far, in favour of prefabs but what the feeling will be in a decade or so when the phenomenon is past its sell-by date, no one knows.
The most obvious worry for those who invest in prefab is that history will repeat itself and what happened after the first prefab building boom will happen once again: the once-feted housing simply becomes unfashionable. How eager will people be to live in tiny, factory-made pods once the initial excitement is over and reality sets in?
The other danger is that the value of flats will surely rise. How long can prices of microflats be kept low, particularly in central London where demand is so high? Will those at whom the prefab renaissance is aimed be priced out of the market once more?
Another potential disadvantage is that the size of modular housing is dictated by transport considerations. Units have to fit onto trucks to be taken to sites, so their flexibility is limited. If demand rises for bigger, family-sized prefabs, it could be back to the drawing board once again.
The bottom line
Modular housing manufacturer Yorkon said in May that it had seen a "massive increase in interest" from cost-conscious social landlords who want new homes fast.
But financial experts urge caution. Mortgage lenders are issuing warnings about the longevity and popularity of factory-built homes, telling housing associations to be cautious before rushing to embrace prefabricated housing. Andrew Heywood, senior policy adviser at the Council of Mortgage Lenders, told Housing Today that lenders would be wise to pay close attention to issues such as repairs and the "frequently short life of prefabricated housing units" (30 May, page 16).
Clive Barnett, head of housing finance at the Royal Bank of Scotland, warns that lenders might seek warranties from prefabrication firms, guaranteeing their work, before lending any money. Prefab housing is by its nature easily dismantled and so lenders might have problems with the security value of properties.
Even Peabody's Dickon Robinson, a prefab enthusiast, has hinted that housing providers would be foolish to see prefab's current popularity as a revolutionary answer to all the social housing sector's prayers. He has warned that using modular housing to meet need means private housebuilders and social housing providers must work together to ensure the mass-production lines keep rolling to keep in with demand. This could, though, mean more prefab housing in the private market as well as the social sector.
Robinson says: "This is not a revolution we're talking about. It's something that will gradually build up over many years."
Pods and knockers
Off-the-shelf buildings have been around for a while. Sir Joseph Paxton’s Crystal Palace was designed in “demountable” modules which meant that, after the 1851 Great Exhibition in Hyde Park, central London, it could be moved eight miles south-east to Sydenham. From the 1890s until 1910 Norwich company Boulton and Paul created corrugated-iron flatpack homes. The houses would be delivered by train and set up by workmen in days. Several other Victorian-era prefabs still stand – Mack’s Loke, a privately-owned home in Briston, Norfolk, among them. But the real prefab rush came after the Second World War when there was a desperate need for social housing. Around 160,000 prefabs were built as a temporary solution for those left homeless by bombing. These are the buildings which have given prefab such a bad reputation. They were only ever intended to be a temporary quick fix but, as housing need continued, they became permanent fixtures in many areas. Meanwhile, during the 1970s and 1980s, draughty, dull and characterless factory-made site cabins became familiar sights in schools and colleges. For the general public, mass-produced, prefabricated buildings came to symbolise shoddy workmanship, uncomfortable environments and austere design.Source
Housing Today
Postscript
On 27 June, Housing Today's sister magazine Building will host a conference titled Factory Built Homes at the National Motorcycle Museum in Solihull, West Midlands. For more information, or to book places, call 01793 881946
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