In the U.K., the ongoing housing crisis has the nation looking for resources.

Prefab has emerged as a potentially efficient solution, and one producer is adding a unique twist that helps not only house, but to rehabilitate.

According to Construction Manager, six months ago, Manchester-based procurement consortium Procure Plus launched Osco Homes, aiming to deliver affordable houses constructed offsite at a factory based in Hindley, a prison located in Greater Manchester.

The goal for Osco Homes is to build two homes a week, and within three years reach output of 1,000 homes a year.

Select prisoners at Hindley in the final year of their sentence are being trained to build prefab homes, and they have been given construction training in plastering and kitchen bathroom fitting provided by Manchester College.

Osco pays each prisoner a salary for their work over and above what they would usually receive from the prison, which is held in trust until after their release.

Then, once released, they are employed full-time by Osco and are paid £19,000 ($23,117 USD) per year.

“The operation at Hindley has been a really big success and we’re now looking at doubling the space of the factory and also setting up factories at other prisons which we’ve had confirmed by the Ministry of Justice,” said Mike Brogan, CEO of Procure Plus.

“The MoJ has given us a shortlist of their prisons to choose from, they will most likely be in the north west or maybe the north east. We’re not looking to rapidly expand, but in the next six months we’d like to have another prison operating the scheme and its own factory and then probably another to follow that, ideally three prisons in total.

Brogan estimates that the cost savings for every inmate who does not return to prison is around $20,000 per year.

“It’s not just about building homes, but providing training and opportunities to guys who may have taken a wrong turn in life but are keen to change,” said Brogan. “With the factory we’re providing this two-fold service.”

For more on solutions to the U.K. housing crisis, click here. ##

 

(Image credits are as shown above.)

 

Submitted by RC Williams to the Daily Business News for MHProNews.