With shorter construction times and cheaper manufacturing costs, are prefabricated homes set to become a trend that developers and investors alike should pay attention? The REalyst investigates whether modular homes are indeed becoming valuable assets to the property ecosystem.

Read time: 4 minutes

We recently saw Boris Johnson ushered in to become Britain’s 25th prime minister. With England needing to build 150,000 new homes each year in order to satisfy demand by 2040, solving the UK housing crisis should have been at the top of his agenda. Of course, the big B word has stolen all of the headlines and inserted itself as de facto issue number one. 

Once the United Kingdom leaves the EU, whether that be on October 31st or beyond, there is going to be the small matter of national policies to tackle. As demand far outweighs supply, the UK needs to build homes. And it needs to build them quickly. 

A cross-party report between the government and housing charity, Shelter, suggests that the UK needs 3-million new homes by 2040. With it taking an average of six months to build a new home, the chances of reaching the 2040 target look slim. 

The housing figures pose the question around the types of new homes being built. And one of the possible answers lies in the form of modular housing. But what is modular housing? And is it a realistic answer to the UK’s housing problem? 

What is modular housing? 

Also known as ‘prefabricated homes’, modular homes are built in a factory and delivered to their location once the construction is finished. The property then remains in its location and becomes a permanent fixture, much like the traditional homes you see on the streets of the UK.