In his Soapbox column on the 100 year anniversary of Lloyd George's ‘Homes fit for heroes' speech, Paul Wheeler called for homes at rents and prices that people can afford (The MJ, 31 May). This isn't a new problem of course, but it is one that increases in importance year on year. Figures released in January this year found the number of local authority-owned homes in England decreased by 0.7% to 1.60m by April 2017. At the same time, 1.16m households were on local authority waiting lists.
So where is the innovation and how do we collaborate to maximise its impact? One part of the solution is emerging in the form of factory-build housing. At iESE we have been tracking developments in this market for several years. The first time I saw the potential of factory build was at a factory in Hull.
Built in a clean and dry environment, the factory was producing complete rooms with all electrics, plumbing, fixtures, fittings and flooring in place. You knew to the minute when the completed room would leave the factory. These complete rooms then slotted together before a roof was placed on top, and the property was ready to occupy.
Another advantage is that the physical construction of a factory-assembled house needs less space. With a prefabricated house built in a factory setting, once the foundation has been created, the rooms can be lowered into the site by a crane and bolted together; this means that you can use plots which would not be viable for a traditional build.
On the other hand, there are challenges for factory build, particularly with social rents. At the District Councils' Network conference this year there was an excellent session on housing, but what stuck with me was a throwaway comment comparing factory build housing to a ‘kit car' – reminding me that the one challenge of tapping into this market is reputation.
The first time I visited factory build I saw the company's first house – it narrowly missed passive house standard. This year I visited an estate built by the same company. Residents came out to show me around their homes and they were ‘wowed' by the quality. It was truly superb, not only the design but the construction quality too. Unlike the 10 years for traditional build, these houses came with a 90-year guarantee – now that is confidence!
But what about building affordably for social rent? While factory build has a more predictable price, it isn't always the lowest cost solution. Our analysis of the costs around the country show the regional variations. However, factory-built housing becomes really cost-effective when there is a more limited range of designs. This will make the assembly efficient and achieve the volume that will deliver on price. So, we as a sector are going to have to come together and to help specify those designs and, if we do, we will get more superb quality developments up and down the country using this excellent construction method. If you are interested in collaborating on this then get in touch.
For more information visit www.iese.org.uk/fbhmj
