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.
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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.
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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.”