Quirky hotel chain Snoozebox, which provides pop-up hotel rooms for music festivals and sporting events within 24 hours, has inked a contract with Ealing Council in the United Kingdom to provide 44 modular homes for emergency housing, according to telegraph.co.uk.

With the need for 250,000 new homes annually to ease the housing crunch, and private builders only supplying half of that, Sneezebox will join interior design firm Bert & May Spaces in constructing modular homes to chip away at the chronic housing need. Home prices are rising between 4.6 percent and 13 percent because of the low supply.

Bert & May has designed three portable box homes: the smallest will be a one room-unit selling for £25,000 ($37,800); a one-bedroom unit will be available from £75,000 ($113,400); while the largest and most expensive will be the two-bedroom option at £150,000 ($226,800). The boxes are made of reclaimed wood and other materials with double glazed windows and an eco-friendly green roof to hold down energy costs.

“The nature of London property prices in particular makes moving house impossible. We want to prove prefabs can be cool – if you have spare land, why not have an extra bedroom. And you can take it with you if you do move, “ said Lee Thornley, co-founder of Bert & May.

He adds that modular units are less expensive than room additions, and MHProNews has learned planning permission is not necessary for portable homes. ##

(Photo credit: top-telegraph.co.uk— modular, portable bedrooms by Sneezebox; bottom, telegraph.co.uk— modular home by Bert & May)

Article submitted by Matthew J. Silver to Daily Business News-MHProNews.