Massive Refab Factory To Make One 'modular' Home Every HOUR In New Era Of Flatpack Housing

By Claudia Aoraha For Mailonline

Published: 05:37 EDT, 27 June 2022 | Updated: 08:41 EDT, 27 June 2022

A new era of prefab housing could be ushered in as a factory the size of eight football pitches that churns out one 'modular' home an hour is set to be built in Britain.

Construction company TopHat announced plans to open a 650,000sqft factory in Corby, Northamptonshire, next year that will be able to produce around 4,000 ready-made properties a year and create a solution to the housing crisis.

Looming labour shortages within the building industry and the UK's net-zero targets have left bosses believing that prefabricated homes could be the future of affordable and eco-friendly housing.

Flatpack house-building has already boomed in Europe, including in Germany where 23 per cent of its new properties are prefabricated houses. But the trend has struggled to take off in the UK - where just 15,000 of the 200,000 homes built per year are modular.

The modern methods of construction enables entire homes to be completed and made in a factory and then craned into position on its destined street.

Modular house components are made in factories and then are pieced together on site - in a return to post-World War Two prefabricated housing techniques (stock image)

Prefab homes are installed around the country by companies like Ilke Homes - pictured are their workers building a modular house in Manchester in 2018

Flatpack house-building has boomed in Europe, including in Germany where 23 per cent of its new properties are prefabricated houses. Stock image of a modular housing factory

Prefab homes (stock image) can have better air tightness that are more energy efficient - helping the environment and the homeowner's pockets in the long term

Modular homes can also be prefab in sections and then pieced together on the site of the new home.

In post-World War Two Britain, the Government was keen to rebuild quickly after devastating bombing raids by the Nazi Luftwaffe and turned to prefab solve the country's housing crisis.

More than 156,000 'prefab' homes - flat-pack properties constructed in a factory out of a limited number of materials - were built across Britain on the orders of Winston Churchill, who had envisaged the problem even before 1945.

They were mass produced in sections at a factory and assembled on sites around the country.

Despite the previous cheap and mass-produced connotations, today's versions can be design masterpieces that are also high-tech and hard-wearing.

Construction company TopHat announced plans to open a 650,000sqft factory in Corby, Northamptonshire, next year that will be able to produce around 4,000 ready-made properties a year (stock image)

The modern methods of construction enables entire homes to be completed and made in a factory and then craned into position on its destined street (stock image)

Companies are investing in modular homes, as they could be the solution to the housing crisis amid the looming labour and skill shortages in the construction industry. Pictured, Ilke Homes constructing a modular home

According to property consultancy JLL, the British public can't tell the difference between homes that are traditionally built on site or those that have been made in a factory.

And with one third of Britain's construction workforce estimated to be about ten years away from retirement, bosses have turned to prefab and investment has boomed, with Goldman Sachs now owning about 70 per cent of TopHat.

This has been helped by the government's push on net-zero targets for carbon emissions, since houses can be made more eco-friendly with precision engineering inside a factory.

New modular builds are also said to be less exposed to rising inflation, because they use materials more efficiently.

Perfab housing companies, like Ilke Homes building in Stanford-le-Hope, Essex, have also worked with energy providers to create a bespoke tariffs that guarantees residents will not have any energy bills.

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Ilke Homes and TopHat are not alone in their decision to re-embrace prefab style homes. Insurance company Legal & General have also built a 550,000sqft factory in Elmet, near Leeds

Workmen in the 1940s building prefabricated houses on what was once Bungalow Street, in West Norwood, London. The whole street was wiped out by three flying bombs in World War Two

Some of the modular homes made by the company, fit with a kitchen and bathroom and a two or three-bedroom house cost between £65,000 and £79,000.

In research conducted this year, homes in Britain are now thought to be less affordable than ever before, with house prices seven times the average income.

Property prices shot up during the Covid-19 pandemic, taking the chances of buying a home further out of reach for most families, according to research by Hailfax.

The bank said that although wages have risen by just 2.7%, house prices have risen by 16.8% since the pandemic began.

Halifax said that an average UK home cost £239,281 at the start of 2020, while average earnings were £38,374.

However, by the start of 2022, house prices had shot up to £279,431, with yearly earnings rose only slightly to £39,402.

Jordan Rosenhaus, the chief executive of TopHat told The Times: 'If you want to build homes with better air tightness that are more energy efficient, you can do that much better with precision engineering inside a factory than you can building outside.'

However he admitted that TopHat, who already have a factory in Foston, Derbyshire, that produces 800 homes a year, cannot yet make homes for the average UK house price yet, which is around £280,000.

Bruce Bell, chief executive of the housebuilder Facit Homes, said: 'Most major housebuilders are already getting ready for change.

'They know that the cost of labour has gone through the roof since Brexit, making their existing low-skilled, low-cost model unsustainable.'

With one third of Britain's construction workforce estimated to be about ten years away from retirement, bosses have turned to prefab and investment has boomed, with Goldman Sachs now owning about 70 per cent of TopHat

New-style prefab homes, which were rented at £100 a week in 2004 (pictured) in Stockwell, London

Despite the previous cheap and mass-produced connotations, today's versions of prefab homes can be design masterpieces that are also high-tech and hard-wearing

The Luftwaffe's destruction of London during the Blitz forced housing authorities to follow the American fashion for prefabricated buildings.

The 1944 Housing Act authorised the Government to spend up to £150 million on temporary houses in areas like Lewisham, where more than 1,500 homes had been destroyed during just the first year of conflict.

Cheap and quick to build, the prefab houses were popular with both councils and residents, not least because they were the first buildings many had lived in to have an indoor toilet.

It may seem strange by today's standards but the prefabs quickly became synonymous with comfort and luxury.

In fact, the war-time government was so proud of its new idea that it commissioned a prototype to appear at the Tate Gallery in London.

More than 150,000 of these 'palaces for the people' were mass produced in sections at a factory and assembled on sites around the country

But the Excalibur Estate in Catford, consisting of 187 homes and even a prefab church, remains the largest to survive, despite the original tenants being told it would survive for little more than a decade.

By Claudia Aoraha For Mailonline

Published: 05:37 EDT, 27 June 2022 | Updated: 08:41 EDT, 27 June 2022

Along a two-mile winding road situated in a leafy suburb of Birmingham where stunning five-bedroom houses sell for more than £1million is a conspicuous row of 'tin can' homes seemingly frozen in time.

That time is one of post-war recovery when the Government, keen to rebuild quickly after devastating bombing raids by the Nazi Luftwaffe, would turn to temporary homes in a bid to solve the country's housing crisis.

Sometimes mockingly referred to as 'tin can homes', due to many being made from steel plate, the structures were only ever meant to be a stop-gap.

And so thousands were demolished within a decade and replaced with more permanent structures as access to resources improved.

But more than 70 years on around 8,000 still remain, including a row situated on Wake Green Road in the leafy Birmingham suburb of Moseley - where sprawling five bedroom houses sell for as much as £1.3million.

The 17 steel-framed prefabs have gained somewhat of a cult following by supporters who see them as 'a testament to and symbol of post-war recovery, innovation and optimism for a brighter future'. And all but one of them is now protected with Grade-II listed status.

But half now lie empty as hollowed relics, sitting opposite semi-detached homes with two car driveways owned by high-flying professionals and in an area where houses sell for an average of £340,000. One five-bedroom property just a short walk down the road is currently on sale for more than £500,000.

Despite this, those still occupying the council-owned 'tin can' homes, which are rented for less than £100-per-week, insist there is no place they would rather be.

'They'll have to take me out in a box,' said Margaret Butler, a resident who has lived in her pre-fab home more than four decades.

70 years on from Britain's post-war prefab drive, some of the temporary homes still remain, including 17 along Wake Green Road in the Birmingham suburb of Moseley

One resident, Margaret Butler, who has lived in her 'tin can' home for more than four decades, insist she has no intention of leaving.

'This house has been here since the Second World War. It hasn't changed that much apart from having new windows and central heating and my brother redecorated it,' said Ms Butler

Margaret Butler, who lives in one of the prefab homes (pictured) adds: 'I want them to stay as they are. I plan on living here for the rest of my life'

The prefab houses sit opposite semi-detached homes with two car driveways owned by high-flying professionals and in an area where houses sell for an average of £340,000. One five-bedroom property just a short walk down the road is currently on sale for more than £500,000

Those still occupying the council-owned 'tin can' homes, which are rented for less than £100-per-week, insist there is no place they would rather be

But half the prefab homes (pictured right side of the road) now lie empty as hollowed relics, sitting opposite pricey semi-detached homes (pictured left side of the road) with two car driveways and owned by high-flying professionals

As early as 1942, three years before the war ended, Sir Winston Churchill was thinking of means to combat the housing crisis.

Thousands of homes had been destroyed in Luftwaffe bombing raids, and the situation which would no doubt worsen once the 2.9million British soldiers serving in France, Italy, West Africa, and the Middle East were demobilised. A cheap and quick solution was needed.

Churchill announced the establishment of the Emergency Factory Made housing programme during one of his many famous radio broadcasts in March, 1944.

As many as 156,000 pre-fabs homes went up across the country, with around 4,000 prefabs installed across Birmingham.

A black and white photograph of Wake Green Road in Birmingham. The photograph, which features in the Pre Fab Museum's archive, is one of the only known photographs of the Moseley homes taken in the 1950s - soon after they were built

Various models made their way to Birmingham, including the 17 Phoenix-brand prefabs in Wake Green Road, which cost around £1,200 each to build in 1947.

The houses were constructed from steel plate over rolled steel poles and were favoured over other, flimsier, models.

David Humphries, a local pre-fab enthusiast, told Birmingham Live: 'The specification was to build them to last just 10 years, but many of them lasted well into the 60s and 70s.

'The people that moved in absolutely loved them. Most of the others in Birmingham had gone by the early 1970s, but the ones in Wake Green Road just clung on.'

In 1998, the 16 council-owned units in Moseley were awarded Grade II-Listed status - giving them extra protection in terms of future redevelopment.

Birmingham City Council have conducted some works since, replacing windows, fitting central heating and upgrading appliances - but much of the properties' original features remain unchanged.

Plans are currently in the works to restore the pre-fab homes, though the council says it needs to source additional funding to help fund the project.

According to the Pre-fab Museum, an archive which holds information about post-war prefabs, their history and design, say there are around 8,000 left in the UK today.

However they say many have had new roofs and windows and so nowadays look more like bungalows.

One expert told MailOnline that nearly all of the Swedish timber post-war prefabs - many of which were built in rural areas - are still up and accounted for.

The 82-year-old said: 'I think it's nice to live here. I've been here over 40 years now. My mum died 21 years ago and dad died before that.

'This house has been here since the Second World War. It hasn't changed that much apart from having new windows and central heating and my brother redecorated it.

'There's no problem keeping it warm. Sometimes the rain leaks in from the ceiling a bit but it quickly dries up. It's not a problem.'

She adds: 'I want them to stay as they are. I plan on living here for the rest of my life.'

Ann Gardener, 84, has lived on Wake Green Road for 18 years.

She said: 'For the whole time I have been here, Birmingham City Council has visited us once in the last 18 years.

'I do feel, sometimes, that we are forgotten about. They [council] promised to paint the outside, but they never have.

'I - and other people in the houses have no other complaints - I love it here.

'It would be a shame if they went, all the history within these rows of houses is too much just to be knocked down.

'A lick of paint here of there wouldn't go a miss. I think the neighbours on the opposite side of the road quite like them too.'

Brenda Grattan, 78, lives with her dog Gypsy in the first two-bedroom home on the row. She's been there 10 years having been moved in by Birmingham City Council - which owns the properties.

'I was a school caretaker before I moved here. It was strange when I first moved in,' says Ms Grattan.

'I remember sitting on the wall across the road and looking over here and someone saying, 'I think that's the home the council has got you'.

'I looked at it and I said 'no, I'm not living there'. It was a shock. But I moved in and I spent a lot of money doing it all up.

'I had to have the whole thing rewired. There were pipes sticking out everywhere.

'A man lived here before me and he had pulled one of the walls down, so I had to put that back up. I filled about 10 skips with all the stuff that was left here.

'I lived here with my husband initially and there's a family a few doors down who have raised two kids here.

'One of the other neighbours I know has lived here a lot longer than me.'

Inside, Ms Grattan's house looks like a regular bungalow - the walls are nicely wallpapered, the rooms are spacious and the garden is big by anyone's standards.

Then she points out the kitchen floor is sloping - made obvious by Gypsy's ball rolling across it - something which provides a stark reminder that this is no ordinary home.

However she insists the property is 'lovely'. Ms Grattan said: 'They're a lot bigger inside than you'd think.

'I turned the other bedroom into a second sitting room because my husband was always watching sport on the TV. The council put me a shower in but I'm pretty sure all the others have got baths. I think it's lovely.'

Ms Grattan pays £96 per week for her one-storey home and says it's worth every penny - but there's one thing she'd like to change. 'The only thing I don't like is the toilet,' she says. 'It's like an airplane toilet, it's so small.'

Pub supervisor Lucy Burkett, 24, lives with her boyfriend in the only privately-owned prefab on the street.

'I'd never seen somewhere like this in my life,' says Lucy. 'I didn't know anything about the history when we moved in.

Ann Gardener, 84, has lived on Wake Green Road for 18 years. She said: 'For the whole time I have been here, Birmingham City Council has visited us once in the last 18 years. 'I do feel, sometimes, that we are forgotten about. They [council] promised to paint the outside, but they never have. 'I - and other people in the houses have no other complaints - I love it here.

Ms Gardener said: 'It would be a shame if they went, all the history within these rows of houses is too much just to be knocked down. 'A lick of paint here of there wouldn't go a miss. I think the neighbours on the opposite side of the road quite like them too.'

Ms Gratton, who has lived in her pre-fab home for years insists the property is 'lovely'. Ms Grattan said: 'They're a lot bigger inside than you'd think.

Inside, Ms Grattan's house looks like a regular bungalow (pictured) - the walls are nicely wallpapered, the rooms are spacious and the garden is big by anyone's standards

Brenda Grattan's back garden to her pre-fabricated Second World War bungalow in Wake Green Road in Moseley

'My boyfriend's friend owns it so that's why we ended up moving here. But it's lovely inside. It's got two bedrooms and it's been decorated really nice. It just feels like home.

'We've only lived here just over a year and we've had quite a few people knocking on the door asking if they can buy it. They're just a part of Birmingham now.'

The prefabs' longest-living resident Lawrence Attenborrow, 82, moved to Wake Green Road 52 years ago with his wife Patricia, who passed away in 2020.

His daughter Lisa, who lives there and cares for him, believes her dad is the prefabs' longest-staying resident.

The Birmingham suburb of Moseley might not immediately spring to mind when listing of the UK's most prized property hotspots.

But the leafy community, located three miles south of the city centre, was once voted hotter than Mayfair by The Sunday Times in terms of city living.

In 2015, the area, which is now home to swathes of wealthy hipsters and high-flying professionals, topped the list of best city locations to live.

It was praised for its 'village community', its award-winning monthly farmers' market and its easy access to the city centre.

Moseley is also steeped in history, with writer J.R.R Tolkien, who penned The Lord of The Rings books, having lived there in his early years. The nearby Sarehole Mill is believed to have inspired his tranquille Shire - home to the hobbits.

It was also where 90s Brit-pop band Ocean Colour Scene flourished - with their most successful album (in terms of weeks on chart) even being named Moseley Shoals - while

Average property prices in the area are around £340,000, higher than the £275,000 average for the rest of the West Midlands, according to Right Move, with semi-detached homes regularly selling for around £480,000.

Lawrence and Patricia raised three children there, and even slept on a sofa bed in the living room for several years so their son and two daughters could have separate bedrooms.

'We've been very happy here,' says Lawrence, a retired builder and factory worker.

'When the children were growing up, I said to my wife 'we needed another place, somewhere bigger'.

'But my wife loved it here. She said we'll get a bed settee and sleep on that and the children can have the bedrooms.'

Asked if he plans to live there for the rest of his life, Lawrence tells me: 'I haven't got long to go now, I'm 82, but I should think so.

'I've seen neighbours come and go. There have been loads over the years who have died here. You don't often see people moving away.

'People want these places, I don't know why.'

His daughter Lisa adds: 'I've lived here all my life, I was born here. I have lovely memories growing up here. It was always nice and warm and a lovely family home, with lovely wildlife out the back.

'I was always very aware of its history. My friends would come round after school and say 'you live in a funny house'.

'My mum adored the prefabs and always said she wanted to die here, which she did.' Lisa adds: 'I'd love to stop here. It's my home.'

But John, 73, and Jane Wood, 72, who live in a neighbouring street in Moseley, Birmingham, have said most of the properties lie empty and have become overgrown.

They said: 'If you are going to keep them, they ought to be renovated. We have lived in the area for all of our lives and they have always been here.

'There has not much change since the war. When I was young, people used to love living in them.

'But, by modern standards, they are small and probably difficult to heat. By the look of them, they are nearing the end of their life.

'They are historic. This is one of the very few areas that has entire road of fabricated homes.

'Looking back around 5-10 years, they were all lived in. Now, they are probably six of them that are empty and overgrown.

'I imagine nobody would be really interested in living in them anymore.

'They are in the same category as the back-to-back house in the middle of Birmingham. They should keep three or four of these as a reminder.'

However others disagree. One local dog walker who has lived in the area since 1975, and wishes to remain anonymous, said it is time they should be knocked down.

She said: 'I think it they are terrible and should be knocked down. They are in a terrible mess. They are not doing any of the nice houses across the road any justice at all.

The prefabs' longest-living resident Lawrence Attenborrow, 82, moved to Wake Green Road 52 years ago with his wife Patricia, who passed away in 2020

Birmingham City Council have conducted some works since, replacing windows, fitting central heating and upgrading appliances - but much of the properties' original features remain unchanged. Plans are currently in the works to restore the pre-fab homes, though the council says it needs to source additional funding to help fund the project. Pictured left: Lawrence Attenborough at his prefab home in Wake Green Road and right Margaret Butler

Ms Grattan pays £96 per week for her one-storey home and says it's worth every penny. But there's one thing she'd like to change - having a bigger toilet

As many as 156,000 pre-fabs homes went up across the country, with around 4,000 prefabs installed across Birmingham

In 1998, the 16 council-owned units in Moseley were awarded Grade II-Listed status - giving them extra protection in terms of future redevelopment

More than 156,000 'prefab' homes (pictured left: A map showing some of the permanent prefab properties) - flat-pack homes constructed in a factory out of a limited number of materials - were built across Britain on the orders of then Prime Minister Winston Churchill. But many were torn down after 10 years and replaced with permanent structures (pictured right: A map showing the prefab properties which have been demolished)

'Some of the houses are not even lived in. It is a total waste of space. They are very old fashioned, and they people who live in them probably can't afford to do them up themselves. They add absolutely nothing to the area. They are all in a very bad state of repair.'

As early as 1942, three years before the war came to a close, Sir Winston Churchill was thinking of means to combat the housing crisis.

The futures of the 16 council-owned prefab homes of Wake Green Road were given extra protections in 1998 when they were awarded grade II-listed status.

Though it does not stop the homes being redeveloped, it does place significant protections on the buildings as being of 'special interest'.

Meanwhile Birmingham City Council say they hope to one day preserve the buildings to modern standards.

But the authority say such a project would be 'very technically complex and costly' and they are currently attempting to find funding to help support their restoration.

A spokesperson for the authority told MailOnline: 'Birmingham City Council carried out various option appraisals and feasibility studies to establish the most appropriate course of action for the preservation of the Wake Green Road Prefabs with a conclusion that they should be sympathetically restored to modern day standards.

'However, this is a very technically complex and costly project. The council have pursued alternate funding sources to help offset this cost including Heritage Lottery Funding and entering into partnership with Birmingham Conservation Trust.

'However none of these options generate sufficient funding to deliver the works required without significant funding from the councils Capital Investment Programme so this project has remained on hold but the council are still committed to the works and bringing the empty properties back into use.

'To do this we are reviewing costs, revisiting funding options and considering phasing of the refurbishment works.

'In the meantime with support from our local Estates Services Team we are tidying up and maintaining the gardens, dealing with any fly tipping and investigating the provision of unobtrusive security fencing/hoarding around the void properties.'