Pre-fabs for all?

jambutty

jambutty

Apprentice Geriatric
Tackler
After WWII there was a serious housing shortage and the government of the day’s solution was pre-fabs. OK! They weren’t very good (although some pre-fabs still stand occupied today) but today’s technology and building materials are far superior and could produce quality dwelling places at low cost to buy or rent.

A programme not so long ago showed how the pre-fab is making a come back in the states. An estate sized plot of land was acquired and the pre-fab factory was built in the middle. Foundations, utility services and roads were laid out and as each house was built in the factory it was then transported to its place in the estate to await occupation. If memory serves me well 2 dwellings per day were produced. Once the estate was completed the factory was dismantled and transported to a new site to start all over again.

Would it work in the UK?

I think that it might if the will was there and greed took a back seat.

At least it is worth exploring.
 
It's also very popular in Germany.

The only down side in the U.K. is the cost of the land to put them on.
 
One of the finest exponents of the pre-fab buildings was Premier Constrution, Blackburn, although they didn't do houses their systems could have been easily adapted for housing, their consept was build quick build um good
 
Have no facts on this, but in a discussion this week, someone staed that more and more wooden houses (a superior log cabin type-thing) are becoming more popular ? Sorry, can't elaborate. They don't come cheap though.
 
Would the flat pack houses also come with "spare parts" that remain after it is built by a bloke??
 
When we lived in Rutland, 1962-64, a girl I worked with (in Melton Mowbray) was getting married and her future in-laws bought them a "flatpack" wooden house. It had to be imported from Sweden and was put together by a builder. When finished it was a very attractive 3 bedroomed house, not a bungalow, and the rooms were a good size. Apparently if they wanted to enlarge the house they just had to order the extra bit and add it on.

I don't know if IKEA sell them but I wouldn't be surprised. The only trouble is I can imagine getting it all put together then finding the last 3 screws, that hold the roof on, are missing. :sad8:
 
garinda said:
It's also very popular in Germany.

The only down side in the U.K. is the cost of the land to put them on.
Click to expand...
The answer to that is simple. Force the current aristocratic land owners to give the land back to we peasants. After all it used to belong to our ancestors until the kings and queens stole it from them and gave it to their knights and lords etc.
 
katex said:
My Goodness ... D.I.Y. at its height, eh ? As Garinda points out though, suppose you would have to have the land first.

Watcha' think of that Jambutty ?
Click to expand...
Great idea. But with modern materials you wouldn’t even need to use wood.

My back fence was replaced the other day with what looks like and feels like some form of plastic. Each plank was heavier than its wooden counterpart and just as rigid. If they can do that for fencing they can do the same for house walls.

Plastic doesn’t rot so it will outlast me even if I live to be a hundred.

They might even be able to use all the disposable plastic that is filling the landfill sites and thus solve two problems at the same time.

It’s all a question of “if there is a will”.
 
seem to remember that the post war pre-fabs were constructed out of a cement asbestos mix , wonder if there were any health hazards to the folks who lived in them or the folks who later dismantled them.
 
just a little wander, but are the Pre-Fabs at Rose Grove still standing? had a mate late 60s that used to live in em, know they were still standing mid 70s. also was some in the Elephant @ Castle area of london late 80s.
 
cashman said:
just a little wander, but are the Pre-Fabs at Rose Grove still standing? had a mate late 60s that used to live in em, know they were still standing mid 70s. also was some in the Elephant @ Castle area of london late 80s.
Click to expand...


Pre fabs at rose grove?? are they the ones at the back of the unity?
 
the concepts for wooden housing are amazing, one of our Timber Suppliers in Latvia specialises in them and the ones I have seen are amazing and are very reasonably priced, they are very eco friendly with timber used from sustainable sources, The downside as Garinda has pointed out is the price of Land!
 
cashman said:
just a little wander, but are the Pre-Fabs at Rose Grove still standing? had a mate late 60s that used to live in em, know they were still standing mid 70s. also was some in the Elephant @ Castle area of london late 80s.
Click to expand...

Don't know the answer to that Cashy, but they were only supposed to last 10 years and there are some still standing, albeit slightly improved in appearance. Some have even been given Grade ll listed.

Do some googling .. really interesting. The aluminium ones were constructed from the defunct aircrafts from the war, (gosh, can you imagine what it was like when it hail-stormed :eek:) and could be resurrected in a few hours. Shortage of man power and materials brought about these dwellings.

Personally, I always thought they were really ugly, however, seemingly comfortable for the people that acquired them.

Some had asbestos Steeljack, but not all.

Not sure what the seller's market on these would be today Jambutty. Maybe with the cost of brick houses now, could go down well with our young people who cannot afford the property ladder. Just current market forces, but have to forward think should you wish to move in 10 years time; a gamble really as to whether they would sell on. Suspect there would be a little difficulty with planning permission too. Also, remember the U.S.A. is a huge country with lots of land available.
 
Its only about 10 years since they got rid of the prefabs at Marl Pits. The council were told they had to knock them down because of the asbestos in them and someone i used to work with was living in one of them and he was upset about having to leave them.
 
jambutty said:
The answer to that is simple. Force the current aristocratic land owners to give the land back to we peasants. After all it used to belong to our ancestors until the kings and queens stole it from them and gave it to their knights and lords etc.
Click to expand...

You're painting a picture which conjures up images of the old Soviet Union, or in fact even earlier to the 1860's, when the newly emancipated serfs were given ownership of the land they had previously cultivated. Or even worse, the land grabs from the white farmers in Zimbabwe, by what's considered by the present government to be the indigenous population.

How far back would we have to go back to qualify for some of this land? One, two generations, or twenty?

Speaking personally I don't really fancy living on my quarter acre plot, situated three miles from the M6, just outside of Carlisle.:D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top