In a factory just outside Bedford sits the answer to Britain’s housing crisis. Here, workers inspect a line of containers — apartments in various stages of construction — and scribble on clipboards. Welcome to Vision Modular Systems’ housing warehouse, a place where prefabricated homes are put together. It is a far cry from the dust and dirt of a traditional building site and looks more like something out of the futuristic movie Wall-E. Entire homes are made here: ovens and radiators, even toilet-roll holders, are fitted and beds are topped with mattresses. When finished, the units are placed on trucks and driven 53 miles to Holloway in north London, where they will be homes for students. Analysts predict that 2018 will be the breakthrough
Property analysts are predicting that the number of modular homes built in the UK will increase significantly this year , forming an important part of efforts to increase housing supply . The government is increasing access to finance for modular housebuilders , with the aim of increasing the number of properties constructed in this way from 15,000 to 100,000 a year by 2020 . Berkeley builders has announced it wants a number of its homes to be modular in 2020 , and is opening a new factory in 2020 that will produce 1,000 of them per year .