One of Britain’s largest housebuilders hopes to start building factory-made homes this year with the aim that up to a quarter of its homes could eventually be prefabricated. Berkeley Homes acquired a 160,000 sq ft site in Ebbsfleet, Kent, last year to build modular homes. The factory will eventually produce about 1,000 homes a year. Once built they can be installed in half a day. Berkeley builds about 4,000 homes a year. The company said last month that the use of modular construction was partly a response to the “skills crisis” facing the industry and to fears of a drop-off in the supply of workers from the EU. There is a drive towards new “preengineered” housing to help to relieve an acute housing shortage in
UK housebuilder Berkeley Homes has said it could start building prefabricated houses this year. The company acquired a 160,000 sq ft factory in Ebbsfleet, Kent last year, with the aim of making a quarter prefabricated homes a year, amounting to 1,000 of its total output. Berkeley Homes said the move into prefabricated properties was partly in response to a skills crisis in the construction industry and partly to meet the urgent need for more housing in the UK.