Introduction

Four million new homes are required by 2040 to meet demand in the UK.

This note proposes the construction of sufficient prefabricated homes to meet UK housing need. They would be sited near existing settlements or transportation routes. The proposal downplays the role of new towns, which take too long to build and will cause high carbon emissions in their construction.

Park Homes

Park homes are one form of prefabricated home delivered to site by specialist transport companies on modified lorries. They are mostly put on specially designed sites, referred to as parks. They are single storey. A typical park home has roughly the same floor area as a new 2 bedroomed house of traditional construction. Park homes are a tried and tested form of prefabricated homes, with over 100,000 park homes in the UK.

Prefabricated Homes – the advantages

Because much of the work making a prefabricated home is in factories, making a prefabricated home is significantly cheaper than traditional on-site building. Apart from cheaper construction, making a prefabricated home causes much fewer emissions of greenhouse gases than traditional build.

If biogenic storage of carbon is taken into account, the construction prefabricated homes can be carbon negative, storing more carbon than is emitted because of the extensive use of wood. They can be well insulated and come with heat pumps and solar panels.

Because of their lower weight, prefabricated homes need not have extensive (and carbon intensive) concrete foundations. e.g. They can use modern (and cheaper) screw-in foundations.

The post-war prefabs were designed for 10-15 year lifespans but robust engineering and good insulation meant many performed much better than expected, lasting four or more times longer. The residents of many estates resisted their demolition because they liked the spacious gardens and sense of neighbourliness.

Their neighbourliness derived partly from their layout – enough space for each dwelling but with enough propinquity to help neighbours get to know each other. Neighbourliness in such layouts beats even terraced streets. Layouts for suburban semis and particularly multi-storey flats come far behind.

Prefabricated homes – the disadvantages

As a modern example of post war ‘prefabs’, prefabricated homes suffer similar prejudices. This may be one of the reasons why many park home sites are hidden behind belts of trees. In aesthetic style Corbusier has triumphed over Frank Lloyd Wright. We now recognise the disasters of Corbusier towers for housing but there is still a resistance to prefab style – which echos the Lloyd Wright aesthetic.

Another problems of prefabricated homes (in particular park homes) is connected with the regulatory framework. For example, residents may own their homes but not the land they stand on. This excludes them from the great benefit of home ownership, the increase in value of the freehold of land underneath their home – the value of the “bricks and mortar” doesn’t increase much. Regulation should change to encourage freehold of land for prefabricated homes residing with the home owner or, for rented properties, local councils and cooperatives could own sites preventing exploitation by site owners.

Car ownership

While car ownership conveys many benefits, as it increases local (walkable) services decrease to the disadvantage of non-motorists. Despite a reduction in in-use emissions, the emissions from making electric cars are large enough for a Parliamentary Committee to conclude “In the long term widespread personal vehicle ownership does not seem compatible with significant decarbonisation”.

Car free prefab estates can be a means of “greening” neighbouring existing settlements by providing the demand for walkable local services – but that will depend on how seriously we take climate change. For a really climate friendly approach we should incorporate market gardens into these plans to provide jobs and increase food security.

Conclusion

A modern version of the 1944 Ministry of Works is needed to oversee a modern prefab program to create standards and help with finding suitable sites where connections to electric, water and sewage services are easiest. These are likely to be close to existing settlements.