Hyde Housing Association has embarked on two innovative schemes to build modular housing in Southampton and south London.
The Southampton scheme is a venture with Swedish furniture retailer Ikea, which has produced such homes in Sweden since the early 1990s. The other will use the Polish BUMA system.

Hyde is exploring options from abroad as it feels there is little enthusiasm among British housebuilders for innovations such as off-site manufacturing. Hyde chief executive Charlie Adams said: "The big issue is how to get housebuilders involved and explore why they haven't been in the past."

To date, however, only a handful of housebuilders, such as Westbury with its Space4 factory in the West Midlands, have committed to producing OSM housing.

Adams said he hoped local authorities in Lambeth and Southwark would grant planning permission and construction accreditation for the Polish BUMA system "in the next three months".

This system of modular units (pictured) will house homeless families and key workers and will have a 60-year life. If the scheme is successful, Hyde and the other 14 largest London associations hope to sign a deal with the BUMA providers, as this method is up to 15% cheaper than comparable British methods.

The units can be moved if necessary to other sites in order to take advantages of short-term planning permission of, for example, five to 10 years on brownfield sites.

The Ikea homes in Southampton are being built as part of a pilot scheme in conjunction with the launch of an Ikea superstore.