Can Modular Housing Save The Housing Crisis

Can Modular Housing Save The Housing Crisis

Mass-produced modular housing is on the verge of a major milestone, bringing new methods to the housing construction industry. Instead of on-site construction, houses and blocks of flats are being manufactured in sections in a factory.

In the London borough of Croydon, two tower blocks, set to be the largest in the world to be constructed using modular components are currently being built. The towers are 38 and 44 storeys high, and will contain 546 homes. With the opening of a new modular housing factory in Leeds, scaffolders in Leeds take a look at modular housing.

While it has become popular in Japan, Germany and Sweden, modular housing has yet to take off in the UK. Only 15,000 of the 200,000 homes built in the UK each year are from modular technology. The manufactured construction method still has the negative connotations associated with the low-quality prefabricated homes of post-war era Britain.

Advocates of modular housing are eager to drop the ‘prefab’ label, instead concentrating on the construction method being entirely different to this. The homes being produced are high quality, and cost efficient, designed and manufactured using the latest methods and technologies.

The UK housing sector has been boosted by investment in modular housing, with such companies as Sekisui, Japan’s largest house builder, who have entered in to partnership with the UK government to produce thousands of modular homes across the country. Also, Worthing Council have given IKEA the go ahead to build modular homes on the south coast.

The government aims to have built 300,000 new homes by the middle of the decade in an attempt to fix the market and the housing crisis. It is hoped that modular housing will play a larger part in this, as factory-built housing is seen as a speedier way of construction.

However, it is reported that construction costs for the mass-produced systems to be 12 per cent higher that traditional methods. There are new entrants to the housing industry who are driving innovation in construction, but it is established builders that will need to adopt and adapt in order to create real change.

Factory-built housing requires less labour, and homes can be assembled faster than traditional methods. It can take under a week to build a home in the factory, with the advantage of construction in a controlled environment, away from the elements prevalent in the UK

Like all new technology, there is risk. Mass production always contains the potential for error to be replicated, whether that’s modular homes, or electrical appliances. A single mistake in construction is an isolated incident, but a mistake in the manufacturing process will be repeated until it is noticed, which could be much further down the line.

Modular buildings have a lower carbon footprint because there are fewer lorry deliveries to the site, cutting emissions. People living nearby are also less affected by noise, pollution and disruption. If you’re looking for scaffolders in Leeds, then get in touch today.

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