Prefabs were the solution after the war so why not again?
Probably because the prevalent attitude, at the time, was restoration whereas these days it's simply to allow people to make as much money as possible.
yes but jobs are generally minimum wage, zero contract hours etc. With the rise of bills and no pay increase it gets tougher. therefore it may mean cheaper housing but the reflection of it is still the same as people do not earn enough.
My point was that there isn't so much of a housing shortage in run down (high unemployment) areas.
yup as I said before this is what they are doing in Plymouth. They are building and training up a lot of young people via apprenticeships, cheap wage etc. However when the bubble bursts there are going to be a lot of skilled unemployed people. As there is very little industry here already what happens, lots of unemployed people. etc.
The housing market is not a way to get this country out of recession and a lack of jobs.
it does seem like it might create a short term bubble, and put SOME confidence in the market, and logic says that, this confidence wont last, but know two things
1) this is exactly how banks, the corner stone of capitalism works
2) the government backed "help to buy" is rising house prices again, when it really shouldn't, the government can cancel it at any point, the market should not be growing off the back of it, ok it may grow a little, but it should not be inspiring the confidence that it appears to be.
TBH I applaud someone for actually training people, it has to be better than doing nothing, even if the job is not local, its better than doing nothing, and also those skilled youngsters may attract employers, who want those skills.
My point was that there isn't so much of a housing shortage in run down (high unemployment) areas.
See, that's something I don't really get.
Seems like, rather than attempting to build ever-more accommodation in areas that are already successful, and thus perpetuate the cycle, it'd be far easier to start to control where businesses are located to in order to redistribute the workforce more evenly around the country.
Perhaps the first step in solving the housing problem is for central government to take more control over business incentives in order to encourage businesses to start up in more diverse locations?
I'm not sure US style trailer parks are the answer though.
But there are alternatives, with many companies (even Ikea a couple of years ago) producing affordable prefab type homes.
There are a number of companies in the UK producing pre-fab homes, from small, affordable energy efficient homes that can be erected on prepared ground in just two days, to whole multi million pound mansions available.
The problem of course, is the often strict planning laws and the length of time it can take to get planning permission, plus even small affordable prefabs need capital up front if a major Housing Association was to build them.
Their prices start at around £60k for a full one bedroom home, including fitted kitchen and bathroom. If some HA was allowed to build say an estate of those homes, they could probably negotiate cheaper prices for each unit cutting the costs.
And cheaper alternatives are available from other companies too, including modular systems that can be used to build two and three storey blocks of flats.
But for some reason, even when HAs do build homes, they tend to go down the more expensive traditional building routes.
I'm not sure US style trailer parks are the answer though.
But there are alternatives, with many companies (even Ikea a couple of years ago) producing affordable prefab type homes.
There are a number of companies in the UK producing pre-fab homes, from small, affordable energy efficient homes that can be erected on prepared ground in just two days, to whole multi million pound mansions available.
The problem of course, is the often strict planning laws and the length of time it can take to get planning permission, plus even small affordable prefabs need capital up front if a major Housing Association was to build them.
Their prices start at around £60k for a full one bedroom home, including fitted kitchen and bathroom. If some HA was allowed to build say an estate of those homes, they could probably negotiate cheaper prices for each unit cutting the costs.
And cheaper alternatives are available from other companies too, including modular systems that can be used to build two and three storey blocks of flats.
But for some reason, even when HAs do build homes, they tend to go down the more expensive traditional building routes.
But at 60k there are plenty of places in the country that you can buy a conventional, multi bed standard home for that price on the open market. The problem is they are not in places where people want to live or where there are jobs. Your example would not cost 60k in London or the outskirts for example.
it does seem like it might create a short term bubble, and put SOME confidence in the market, and logic says that, this confidence wont last, but know two things
1) this is exactly how banks, the corner stone of capitalism works
2) the government backed "help to buy" is rising house prices again, when it really shouldn't, the government can cancel it at any point, the market should not be growing off the back of it, ok it may grow a little, but it should not be inspiring the confidence that it appears to be.
TBH I applaud someone for actually training people, it has to be better than doing nothing, even if the job is not local, its better than doing nothing, and also those skilled youngsters may attract employers, who want those skills.
I understand what your saying and the logic between one and the other and the gaining of confidence of the markets. However the the creation of housing in my area (is/willbe) short term as there is a huge lack of investment in other areas. They build to get people here but there is nothing generally industry wise that's keeping people here.
Yes indeed people and training is a great thing and can lead on to bigger things. However I am already seeing the outfall of this boom of building training a huge percentage of people who come to see me are X builders or ones who have failed the training as there is not the right support for them. Or they were fobbed off into the schemes by certain institutions who made money off the referral processes.
Create investment in the areas, create the housing not just one. In the SW its just one. Though I believe that investment should not be entirely government funded.
But at 60k there are plenty of places in the country that you can buy a conventional, multi bed standard home for that price on the open market. The problem is they are not in places where people want to live or where there are jobs. Your example would not cost 60k in London or the outskirts for example.
The land wouldn't cost the same no, but the actual cost of the prefab itself would be the same surely?.
And as I said, other much cheaper alternatives are also available from other companies.
The land wouldn't cost the same no, but the actual cost of the prefab itself would be the same surely?.
And as I said, other much cheaper alternatives are also available from other companies.
But do you know how much land with planning permission costs? Its about 100k for somewhere outside London for a 'house size' plot. Lets say you could put 2 of your examples on that plot, thats at least 50k per property without the build costs, without infrastructure, local authority costs etc.
But do you know how much land with planning permission costs? Its about 100k for somewhere outside London for a 'house size' plot. Lets say you could put 2 of your examples on that plot, thats at least 50k per property without the build costs, without infrastructure, local authority costs etc.
Indeed, but this is about trying to cut overall costs to enable say a HA to rent out properties at lower rents.
If a HA pays say £1 million for a decent sized plot of land, but erects cheaper but still good quality prefabs to rent out rather than building traditional style homes, as long as the overall costs are lower, then the rents can be lower.
Yes the costs of preparing the land, putting in services etc., would still have to be paid, but if an HA can buy each prefab for say, £45k and erect each one in 2 or 3 days, the overall costs would be lower than building individual homes from scratch at a cost of say £70k each, and taking weeks if not months to complete.
Their overall costs "could" be lower, plus the homes are available much quicker, so rents start coming in quicker.
Comments
Probably because the prevalent attitude, at the time, was restoration whereas these days it's simply to allow people to make as much money as possible.
My point was that there isn't so much of a housing shortage in run down (high unemployment) areas.
Finding land that is suitable and cheap is always going to be the biggest cost.
1) this is exactly how banks, the corner stone of capitalism works
2) the government backed "help to buy" is rising house prices again, when it really shouldn't, the government can cancel it at any point, the market should not be growing off the back of it, ok it may grow a little, but it should not be inspiring the confidence that it appears to be.
TBH I applaud someone for actually training people, it has to be better than doing nothing, even if the job is not local, its better than doing nothing, and also those skilled youngsters may attract employers, who want those skills.
Exactly, which is why the right wingers just love their attacks on benefit scroungers which tend to go like this
I dont want you living in an expensive area on my tax money, you should move out of (for example) London and move where its cheaper
....
Cant find a job? You should move to where there are jobs, you have to go where the money is..
and so on
See, that's something I don't really get.
Seems like, rather than attempting to build ever-more accommodation in areas that are already successful, and thus perpetuate the cycle, it'd be far easier to start to control where businesses are located to in order to redistribute the workforce more evenly around the country.
Perhaps the first step in solving the housing problem is for central government to take more control over business incentives in order to encourage businesses to start up in more diverse locations?
Lovely big home on wheels.
We'd go all over the place, my dog Cal and me. We wouldn't worry about anything. x
I'm not sure US style trailer parks are the answer though.
But there are alternatives, with many companies (even Ikea a couple of years ago) producing affordable prefab type homes.
There are a number of companies in the UK producing pre-fab homes, from small, affordable energy efficient homes that can be erected on prepared ground in just two days, to whole multi million pound mansions available.
The problem of course, is the often strict planning laws and the length of time it can take to get planning permission, plus even small affordable prefabs need capital up front if a major Housing Association was to build them.
I'd quite happily live on an estate of these types of prefabs for example:
http://www.brightbuild.co.uk/
Their prices start at around £60k for a full one bedroom home, including fitted kitchen and bathroom. If some HA was allowed to build say an estate of those homes, they could probably negotiate cheaper prices for each unit cutting the costs.
And cheaper alternatives are available from other companies too, including modular systems that can be used to build two and three storey blocks of flats.
But for some reason, even when HAs do build homes, they tend to go down the more expensive traditional building routes.
But at 60k there are plenty of places in the country that you can buy a conventional, multi bed standard home for that price on the open market. The problem is they are not in places where people want to live or where there are jobs. Your example would not cost 60k in London or the outskirts for example.
I understand what your saying and the logic between one and the other and the gaining of confidence of the markets. However the the creation of housing in my area (is/willbe) short term as there is a huge lack of investment in other areas. They build to get people here but there is nothing generally industry wise that's keeping people here.
Yes indeed people and training is a great thing and can lead on to bigger things. However I am already seeing the outfall of this boom of building training a huge percentage of people who come to see me are X builders or ones who have failed the training as there is not the right support for them. Or they were fobbed off into the schemes by certain institutions who made money off the referral processes.
Create investment in the areas, create the housing not just one. In the SW its just one. Though I believe that investment should not be entirely government funded.
for some people it's squat or the streets.
The land wouldn't cost the same no, but the actual cost of the prefab itself would be the same surely?.
And as I said, other much cheaper alternatives are also available from other companies.
But do you know how much land with planning permission costs? Its about 100k for somewhere outside London for a 'house size' plot. Lets say you could put 2 of your examples on that plot, thats at least 50k per property without the build costs, without infrastructure, local authority costs etc.
Indeed, but this is about trying to cut overall costs to enable say a HA to rent out properties at lower rents.
If a HA pays say £1 million for a decent sized plot of land, but erects cheaper but still good quality prefabs to rent out rather than building traditional style homes, as long as the overall costs are lower, then the rents can be lower.
Yes the costs of preparing the land, putting in services etc., would still have to be paid, but if an HA can buy each prefab for say, £45k and erect each one in 2 or 3 days, the overall costs would be lower than building individual homes from scratch at a cost of say £70k each, and taking weeks if not months to complete.
Their overall costs "could" be lower, plus the homes are available much quicker, so rents start coming in quicker.
That's the point I was making.