Modular housing schemes that fail to win funding from the government's £200m Challenge Fund could instead apply to the Housing Corporation's Kickstart scheme, the corporation hopes
The corporation has received 90 submissions worth a total of more than £2bn for the fund, launched in September by housing minister Lord Rooker, as well as a social housing grant bid of more than £900m.

The fund aims to provide 4000 homes in London and the South-east – 1000 of which must be modular.

Clive Clowes, the corporation's head of housing procurement practice and development, said he hoped prefabricated schemes that did not already have detailed planning permission – a criterion for Challenge Fund schemes – might turn to Kickstart, an earlier modular housing scheme.

He said: "We would expect to pick up some bids from [the Challenge Fund]. Not everything is going to get funded through it because it's looking for schemes that can be started on site by 6 March 2004."

The £80m Kickstart fund was launched last year to promote off-site manufacturing techniques in construction. It has since been extended by two years, but to date £35m remains unallocated.

This week, the corporation presented 30 schemes shortlisted for the Challenge Fund to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. A winner will be announced on 13 November.

The Peabody Trust has bid to provide container homes for nurses on land donated by the NHS in Sutton, south London. It has also proposed a second scheme on NHS land in Westminster, central London, as part of its £16.6m bid.

The Guinness Trust's bid includes a scheme in a former psychiatric hospital.

  • A consortium of engineers, architects and contractors has proposed 'container homes' as a solution to the affordable homes crisis. The metal containers can be stacked 16 storeys high and assembled on temporary sites.

    The consortium estimates that a container home for a single person could be built for just £28,000.