Posted on 07/17/2007 8:35:04 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
Nine “Ikea” villages could be built in Britain within a year, in the strongest sign yet that the future is flat-packed.
Plans are under way for more than 1,000 Swedish-style kit homes across the country, to cater for the increasing numbers of first-time buyers for whom most homes are now well beyond budget.
A radical experiment is emerging as a solution to the crisis in affordable and sustainable housing, with developers predicting a tenfold increase in the number of flat-pack homes within five years. Starting with the assembly of 120 timber-framed homes in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, this autumn, the housing revolution is set for Scotland, Tyne and Wear, Yorkshire, the Midlands and Essex, where cut-price homes will be delivered in multiple parts, from the factory floor.
Promoters believe that the BoKlok concept, a joint venture between Ikea and Skanska that began in the mid1990s, could present the key to affordable, sustainable housing. The Prime Minister put the housing crisis at the top of the political agenda this week, pledging to build three million affordable homes by 2020.
Thanks to the Scandinavian design, which includes features that save energy and costs, the BoKlok concept offers a rare opportunity for buyers – a property with a five-figure price tag. Apartments begin at £90,000, and three-bedroom family properties are for sale at less than £150,000, pushing clear water between the price of a flat-pack home and £200,000plus cost of the average British house.
A report published yesterday showed that homeowners moving up the property ladder can expect to pay up to £115,000 for one extra bedroom.
Oversubscription, say developers, is inevitable. “People are desperate,” Alan Prole, managing director of Live Smart, the British partner of BoKlok, said. “The stark reality is that there are millions of families out there who will never get on the property ladder unless companies like us create housing options for them. We cannot create higher volumes of housing using traditional methods. This concept enables us to create a new generation of sustainable housing.”
More than 800 people have registered serious interest in the properties which will be assembled in Gateshead later this year. A lottery is one of the options being considered. Mr Prole said: “In Scandinavia, a local town mayor will draw names from a hat, but that feels somewhat mercenary. That might be a bit too emotional for us.”
Within weeks of being shipped from a factory in Milton Keynes, the brown-field site in Gateshead will feature L-shaped blocks, containing six one or two-bedroom apartments with communal car parks and private balconies. New owners even receive a furniture voucher for Ikea stores. Three different types of tenure will be on offer – shared ownership, below market rent and outright sale, with legal agreements ensuring that buy-to-let arrangements will be discouraged.
More than 2,500 BoKlok homes have been sold in Scandinavia, at about 20 per cent less than the market price for similarly sized properties, and at least 800 are being built every year.
Experts have said that the BoKlok concept may not be the answer to all social housing ills. Pippa Collins, acting editor for Build It magazine, said: “Anything that helps people get on the property ladder should be encouraged, but this is only one specific solution.
“It doesn’t address the national problem of rising interest rates, of the home improvement kits debacle, or address the problem of how buying and selling houses works in this country.”
Do recall, this housing is not being built for the intelligentsia of pre-World War II Germany. It is being built for average and/or working class Britons who do not generally share your sophisticated tastes. “Bare essentials” isn’t what most people want in their homes. They want coziness, warmth, charm, individualism, security, and a touch of whatever they grew up with or wish they had grown up with. Hence the ubiquity of certain design elements that may not appeal to your evolved aesthetic and may even appear kitschy to you, but give ordinary people a sense of being grounded.
So, you didn't read Ayn Rand until after you enrolled, eh.
yitbos
I read somewhere that Hitler hated flat roofs....I guess that’s why he flattened most of Europe and surrounding countryside.
Or the geodesic dome?
yitbos
Speaking of century; 100 years ago the Aladdin Company was making kit homes.
I read years ago that genetic engineering would one day allow us to plant and grow a house, that is the house I want!
To expand on that, shop labor is more controllable and consistent, than field labor, when it comes to construction.
Also Poland and other places in Eastern Europe.
Actually, that was the Eighth Air Force. Hitler just made them necessary.
I like the IKEA plan, and its necessary for sure. They should be cheaper though, its only saving 10-20% in the end.
I must agree iwth your point about it being prohibitively expensive to build your own home. You can buy beautiful wooden Swiss-style chalet kits for under a hundred grand, but then you are looking at double that again just to buy a shitty patch of land to build it on. This country (UK) doesn’t want it people doing it for themselves, and would much rather they were indebted to the bank as much as possible.
I can rent here, but as for buying? Not a chance, best bet is go and live in another country.
I often wonder how the British people manage. When I look at UK estate listings, I’m appalled: the prices are twice as high as where I live, and I live in one of the most expensive real estate markets in the US. It seems that in the UK even quite modest houses are very costly. How so many people afford attractive or upper-bracket houses, especially far from the main places one can earn a living, is a mystery. Please explain it to me, I’ve been dying to know for years.
a mortgage that offers five times your annual salary. and you will be paying it off well after your death, meaning that if you dont get your finances straight, then your families subsequent generation can be left with the mountain of debt.
The excuse is that unlike many US homes, most of ours are built of stone, brick and other solid materials. Oh, and we are one of the most densely populated countries in Europe and the Western World in general. Off the top of my head, I think only the Netherlands is more...erm...dense.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.