The need for more affordable housing isn’t only a problem in the United States – it’s a problem around the world. As populations continue to grow, and older residences continue to deteriorate, housing needs obviously grow too.
Legal & General (L&G), a conglomerate that includes an insurance company which has been in the U.K. housing market for 20 years, has just unveiled the prototype of their modular home. It’s a two-story, two-bedroom home that comes “turn-key” equipped with everything you could think of – a kitchen that is fully equipped with appliances, carpeting and floor coverings, curtains and other essentials that traditionally built homes do not always come with.
“The unveiling our first prototype today marks an exciting and important step in our programme to bring modular homes constructed from CLT to market. This prototype demonstrates the high quality of our modular solutions debunking preconceptions of modular housing. At full production, homes like this will be delivered repeatedly in a matter of weeks without the snagging issues faced by traditional methods,” says Rosie Toogood, CEO of L&G Modular.
The factory in Selby, where this prototype home was built and resides, will produce around 3,000 homes a year once at full capacity, according to The Times.
As America’s factory-built home pros know, modular housing is made in controlled conditions. L&G says theirs are built with the most energy efficient methods available. Because they will be able to produce houses in a matter of weeks, rather than a year or more, it’s the fastest solution to the growing shortage of livable homes.
“Modular construction is set to revolutionise the housebuilding sector, bringing new materials, along with methods and processes used in industries such as car-making, to raise productivity and help to address the UK’s chronic shortfall of new homes,” the L&G CEO said.
Modular Advancement
Modular housing taking hold in the U.K. could mark another step-forward for the factory-built housing industry, which routinely suffers from improper terminology, outdated information, and stereotyping.
As the Daily Business News has previously reported, L&G has actually been working towards this modular plan for some time. They’ve invited lenders to their factory to understand that there is no more “risk” involved in mortgaging a factory-built home compared to a site-built house.
Their goal is to make lending and mortgages more available to those who are looking to buy modular and manufactured homes in the U.K., where much like the U.S., they’re subject to misconceptions based on the first-wave of post World War II factory-built houses.
As regular Daily Business News readers know, L&G has had a stake in U.S. based Cavco Industries. The huge size of L&G compared to the $5.3 billion in U.S. manufactured home sales is a reason for the industry to closely follow this operation. ## (News, analysis.)
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