Homes delivered to your... doorstep: Britain's first instant homes factory-built from scratch in just three weeks complete with bathroom and kitchen have been installed by crane
- Britain's first 'instant' homes billed as 'solution to the housing crisis'
- Lowered into position in Blackburn before being assembled in a day
- 25-tonne three-bedroom semis are factory-built and delivered by truck
- Firm is working with Ministry of Defence on homes for injured veterans
A new generation of 'instant' homes drawing inspiration from the prefab homes of the post-war era, are today being installed in a Lancashire town.
The three-bedroom semis were factory-built in just three weeks and delivered to a road in the Whitebirk area of Blackburn, on a flatbed truck in two sections - ground and upper floor.
Billed as a ‘solution to the housing crisis’, the units - made of galvanised steel and weighing 25 tonnes each - arrived yesterday complete with baths, showers and kitchens already included.
Estates of prefabs - dubbed homes for heroes - sprang up in the wake of the Second World War as the government sought a quick solution to the housing shortfall after vast swathes of the country were devastated by Nazi bombs.
Scroll down for video
Driven by lorry: The units arrived yesterday complete with baths, showers and kitchens already included
Easy does it: The three-bedroom semis were factory-built in just three weeks and delivered in Blackburn
Lifted: They were delivered to the road on a flatbed truck in two sections - ground and upper floor
The new homes were built nearby at manufacturer Easybase Home's factory in Blackburn - with the first two fitted together yesterday, and two more arriving next Tuesday.
The homes will be let to tenants through a local housing association, with Easybase Home saying it is is talks with other housing associations and with the Ministry of Defence.
The MoD came to the company after an architect working with them learned about their project and told military officials, who were looking for a bespoke house for a soldier injured in Afghanistan.
The prices are comparable to bricks and mortar homes, but the homes are complete in three weeks. They are also said to be immune to damage from adverse weather and ‘extremely energy efficient’.
Building work takes place inside a factory, while ground works on the site take about three weeks. The houses are fully assembled in a working day and only require connecting to utilities.
Details: They are said to be immune to damage from adverse weather and 'extremely energy efficient'
In place: Billed as a 'solution to the housing crisis', the 25-tonne units are made of galvanised steel
In place: The first units were taken in two sections up the road - lower floor then upper floor and roof
Wendy Malone, of Together Housing Group, which commissioned the homes, said: ‘We'll be monitoring the performance of the homes very closely over the coming months.
'Now we are able to manufacture a complete house in just three weeks we believe we have the solution to the housing crisis'
Ian Chew, Easybase Home
‘Fuel efficiency and security are very important to us and our customers so we're looking forward to seeing the results.’
Ian Chew, chief executive of Easybase Home, added: ‘The houses are built to the highest quality [and] they are extremely energy efficient.
‘Now we are able to manufacture a complete house in just three weeks we believe we have the solution to the housing crisis.’
Available for rent: The homes will be let to tenants through a local housing association in Lancashire
Home: Easybase Home says it is in talks with other housing associations and the Ministry of Defence
Going up: The prices are comparable to bricks and mortar homes, but the homes are complete in three weeks
‘The finished product resembles the look and feel of a traditionally-built home, but achieved in a fraction of the time.
‘Construction of our homes takes just a matter of weeks in house before the completed homes are transported from the factory in two sections.
He added: ‘The downstairs unit and upstairs unit - including the roof are delivered directly to site and come complete with a fully fitted kitchens, bathrooms, double glazing, decorated throughout, energy efficient boilers and fully insulated.
‘The biggest thing for us has been no pollution and no dust on site apart from ground works. We’ve got a house which is futuristic.
Interior: The unfurnished main room of one of the three-bedroom semi 'instant' homes in Blackburn
New: The bathroom (left) and the downstairs toilet (right) inside the home, which can be made in three weeks
What's for dinner? The kitchen in the property, which was delivered to a road in Whitebirk, Blackburn
'It’s a brick house, so nobody going to the site could tell you that it wasn’t done traditionally.’
'It's been really interesting to watch and I'm really impressed with them. The building work hasn't disturbed us at all'
Jimmy Hicks, neighbour
Neighbour Jimmy Hicks, who lives on the road where the new homes were lowered, said: ‘I think they're going to be all right, these houses.
‘I've had a look inside and they're all kitted out and ready to go. It's been really interesting to watch and I'm really impressed with them. The building work hasn't disturbed us at all.’
Gayle Udokah, who also lives on the road, said: ‘I think it's fantastic. I've worked in construction and it's been amazing to see this coming together.
Starting their journey: They were built nearby at manufacturer Easybase Home's factory in the city
Getting ready: Building work takes place inside a factory, while ground works on the site take three weeks
Transportation: The houses are fully assembled in a working day and only require connecting to utilities
‘It's not been like being next to a building site at all. There's no noise, there's no dust, there's no pollution flying around.
‘I think it's a brilliant thing to be a part of and, of course, we'll have to see how it goes in the long term but it certainly looks like this is the future.’
The first units were taken in two sections - lower floor then upper floor and roof, on the back of a flatbed truck and then craned into position before being fitted together.
The company declined to discuss how much the homes are being sold for at this stage.
The homes that were fit for heroes: How Britain turned to prefabs in the wake of the Blitz
They are an integral part of British social history - homes fit for heroes.
Rising from the rubble in the wake of the devastating bombing Britain endured at the hands of the Nazis during the Second World War, came the prefabricated home.
Built on top of pre-plumbed concrete slabs, prefabs could be ready in a day, constructed by teams of German and Italian prisoners-of-war.
They give an insight into what life was like post-Second World War for vast swathes of the population left homeless during the Blitz and the German bombing campaign.
Hector Murdoch arrives home from the Second World War, after spending three years in Japanese captivity. He is greeted by his wife Roshina and their son John, at the family's new prefab home on the Excalibur estate in Catford, south London
Soldiers returning from the front line would find their families waiting brimming with excitement on the doorsteps of the purpose built homes.
One iconic image shows Hector Murdoch arriving back from war, on his birthday, after three years in Japanese captivity.
His wife, Rosina, is dressed in her Sunday best. And the couple's son John bouncing on the spot, finally seeing the father he has hero-worshipped from afar.
In the background stands the family's brand new prefab home on the Excalibur estate in Catford south east London.
HISTORY OF PREFABS BY NUMBERS
War time Prime Minister Winston Churchill first envisaged the need for prefab homes in March 1944, legally outlining the plans in the Housing (Temporary Accomodation) Act of 1944.
At the time the anticipated shortfall in post-war housing stock stood at 200,000 and the idea was to build 500,000 purpose-built homes to plug the gap.
They were designed to last 10 years, by which time the prefabs would be replaced by high-rise council estates.
The eventual bill agreed under Clement Atlee's government provided for 300,000 homes to be built within 10 years to a budget of £150 million.
Of the 1.2million new homes were built from 1945 to 1951, When the programme came to an end, only156,623 prefabs had been constructed.
In Britain the term prefab home will forever be linked with the post-war estates that sprang up in towns and cities, as an answer to the homes shortage.
For more than 150,000 homeless, bombed-out families in Britain, these two-bedroom prefabs were designed as a temporary solution.
But their inhabitants loved them - detached houses, with the luxury of a garden, a bathroom and a separate indoor toilet.
They were designed to last a decade, just long enough to rescue post-war Britons and allow enough time to build sprawling estates so longed for at the time.
But as high-rise tower blocks sprung up across the country, people discovered they hated living in the blocks.
And those prefab residents, who came so attached to their post-war temporary homes, refused to move, staying put.
Residents have fought council plans to tear down estates. Bristol has one of the largest remaining populations of prefab housing.
There remain around 700 homes - 16 of which English Heritage selected for Grade II listed buildings status.
The Excalibur estate in Catford was one of the UK's largest estates, featuring 187 homes on one site.
While residents fought to save the entire estate, English Heritage wanted to save 21 examples, while the council, the London Borough of Lewisham which owned the majority of the estate wanted to tear the lot down.
In September 2009 the Department for Culture, Media and Sport agreed to Grade II list six of the least altered bungalows for preservation.
More than 150,000 prefab homes were built in post-war Britain to plug the shortfall left after bombing devastated the country
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2606881/Doorsteps-delivered-doorstep-Ready-homes-factory-built-scratch-just-three-weeks.html#ixzz2zBi8xAqy
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
No comments:
Post a Comment