modular construction case study uk

Modular Construction Innovation in the UK: The Case of Residential Buildings

Conference paper

https://openresearch.lsbu.ac.uk/item/8q1x6

Download files

Related outputs.

Infrastructure Development in the UK: Key Drivers and Implementation Challenges

Infrastructure Model Development to Enhance Resilience against future changes using InfraWorks & GIS

The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Construction Costing Practice

Gender Diversity in the UK Construction Industry

Success Factors in Mega Infrastructure Projects (MIPs): Developing Nations Perspectives

Investigating skill shortages in the UK Construction Industry: A study on job-specific skills for Quantity Surveying & Engineering roles

Perceptions of BREEAM in the Construction Industry

An Investigation into the Critical Factors of on-site Waste Segregation in the UK Construction and Demolition Sector.

Construction Infrastructure Project Cost Overrun and Cost Control/Management Techniques.

Adoption of building information modelling (bim) by small and medium uk construction enterprises (smes)..

The differing approaches to sustainability between practising and academic Quantity Surveyors

Success factors in mega infrastructure projects (mips): developing nation’s perspectives, social ecological resilience to disasters: british and brazilian perspectives handbook.

Modern Methods Of Construction A Technique In Achieving Affordable Housing In Nigeria

Covid Uncertainties and Modern Methods of Construction (MMC): What Effect on the UK Housing Industry.

Sustainable Approach for the Replacement of Water Mains: Environmental, Social and Economic Considerations.

Complexities Inherent in Mega Infrastructure: The Challenges of Accurate Estimating.

Cost Effectiveness of Implementing External Facades System.

How can value co-creation create social value as management practice for sustainable water supply projects?.

The development of SUCCEED: urban sustainability assessment tool for developing countries with focus on Nigeria

Influence of project alliance in rail construction industry.

Following the trail: a covariance plotting of the crippling effect of COVID-19 on small and medium sized -SMEs firms in the UK’s Construction Industry

Cost Changes in UK Design and Build Projects

The UK Retail Industry and its Effect on Construction Sectors

The impact of infrastructure investment on economic growth in the United Kingdom

Sustainability Assessment of Urban Spaces in Developing Countries: The Nigerian Case

Gender and Disability Inclusion in Post-Disaster Rebuilding ‘Build Back Better’ Programmes in Sri Lanka: A Literature Review

Investigating the Skills and Knowledge Requirements for IOT implementation in Construction

Innovative Changes in Quantity Surveying Practice through BIM, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Mechanical and electrical (m&e) training for quantity surveyors to contribute to carbon reduction in buildings

Mind the Gap: Skills Shortage within the UK Construction Industry

Innovative changes in Quantity Surveying Practice through BIM, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.

Driving Construction Health and Safety Through Procurement Strategy.

Sustainable Solutions to Dampness in Building: A Case Study of Selected Period Properties in England.

Impact of Sustainable Procurement on Post Disaster Reconstruction

Cost of Fire in Highrise Building

Malaysian experience with public-private partnership (PPP): Managing unsolicited proposal

A Resilience Framework for Critical Infrastructure

Understanding the terminologies: Disaster, crisis and emergency

Challenges during disaster response planning resulting from war operations and terrorism in Iraq

Vulnerability Assessment for Climate-Induced Disasters in Malaysia.

What are the latest trends in modular construction?

High-rise residential developments created by modular construction are appearing all over the world. Is sustainability, practicality or profit the main reason for its popularity?

• Noella Pio Kivlehan

24 November 2022

Cities and placemaking

Commercial property

Materials and resources

Quantity surveying and construction

Residential

Ten Degrees, Croydon

The south London borough of Croydon is a good example of the strides made in modular construction over the past couple of years.

Standing 38 and 44 storeys tall, the two connected residential towers at 100a George Street , have set a world record for the world’s tallest modular skyscraper.

Completed in just 26 months by Greystar and Tide Construction, the 546-unit scheme brushed off COVID-19 delays to welcome its first residents in April 2021. The construction speed and height of the built to rent (BTR) development, called Ten Degrees, was lauded by the modular building community worldwide.

It has aided “the acceleration of housing delivery,” says Richard Valentine-Selsey, head of residential research and consultancy at Savills and “pushed the envelope” of MMC (modern methods of construction), says Californian-based consultant, Darren Seary FRICS, principal at Optimum Modular Solutions. 

MMC is an umbrella term for the multiple offsite and onsite techniques that speed up the creation of new builds. Volumetric, a box already finished on the inside, is the most generally understood modular type.

Estimated by Fortunebusinessinsights.com to be worth $75.9bn in 2021 and predicted to rise to $114.8bn by 2028, MMC is used in sectors from offices to hotels , but housing is benefitting the most.

Gaining popularity worldwide

Around 45% of all Swedish homes are built using offsite construction; in Japan it is up to 180,000 units that is between 15-20% of new homes; and in the Netherlands, the output in the county is as high as 15% of annual housing volumes. The UK has the capacity to produce 17,000 homes to be built through MMC - Valentine-Selsey says MMC manufacturers are cautious about giving actual production figures because of manufacturing and instead give estimates, with the annual number of all new-build completions between 35,000 to 40,000.

Historically used in both military and crisis situations where its only purpose was to create functional housing quickly and cheaply, modular has come a long way thanks to technology.

“Specific enhancements over the last decade in the US include steel framed for mid to high rise, concrete full volumetric in Asia, and some new emerging CLT (cross-laminated timber) modular systems in western Europe,” says Nick Butcher FRICS, COO of California-based Cassette.

The UK is embracing full digital design within BIM (building information modelling,) says Valentine-Selsey. “This has made it easier to properly design and plan, with offsite construction in mind, as well as improving and enhancing the level of information available to make maintenance easier.”

“You’re no longer just necessarily building a house inside and then carting it out – you’re doing it with advanced manufacturing techniques” Richard Valentine-Selsey, Savills

Educating developers

MMC use is increasing, but how accepting are developers to the idea of using modular?

“[They] are increasingly opting for using MMC, rather than traditional methods, but there’s still a long way to go,” says Adam Darby, associate at architect BDP. To explain why, Darby uses the evolving residential model, build to rent: “The funding mechanism to get these schemes off the ground relies on a rapid build-strategy to make them operational as quickly as possible to generate a return; MMC is a perfect solution.”

But, he says, supply chain issues in the UK, including a lack of volumetric suppliers has hampered developers taking this route. “Developers are sometimes bound by frameworks with preferred contractors that [stop] them working with MMC suppliers. [There’s] a lack of education and understanding about MMC, with some funders and insurers having a cynical view of ‘new’ methods.”

Those developers embracing modular include Barratt Developments, the UK’s largest housebuilder. “We already use modern methods and offsite construction in 27% of our homes and we want to get to 30% by 2025,” says Oliver Novakovic, group technical and innovation director.

Novakovic says offsite construction helps in terms of speed of build, using fewer materials, creating less waste and being more efficient. “We are increasing our use of timber frame homes, which take less time to build, generate less waste, and save seven tonnes of CO2 emissions over their lifespans.”  

Improved build quality

On the construction side, increased levels of investment into automation, and computer-controlled manufacturing has improved build quality and efficiency, says Valentine-Selsey: “You’re no longer just necessarily building a house inside and then carting it out – you’re doing it with advanced manufacturing techniques.” This has also helped reduce cracks or breakages in transit to the site.

“We have seen issues with stress fractures as well as water damage , depending on the method of transportation,” says Warwick Kendrick MRICS, senior director of Aurora Construction in Sweden. Aurora is the company behind Scandinavia’s tallest modular project, the Kvarteret Jylland, at Krista, Stockholm, with 350 studio apartments completed last year.

Kendrick says the potential for damage can lead to further issues with water proofing: “Specialist modules or modules of a unique shape present a higher risk of damage and limitations in transport.”

But in the high precision environments of the factory, using laser technologies minimises defects in the production process, says Joris Winters, sector leader, Property & Investment at Arcadis. “Adoption of advanced laser technologies in the production of modular housing units can generate further benefits in build quality and dimensional accuracy. This can result in minimized rework, while also reducing carbon footprint and mitigation of some of the uncertainties of material delays and skilled field operative shortages.”

“Most structures above a building foundation can be prefabricated off-site in some fashion or another,” says Dafna Kaplan, CEO of Cassette.  “Whether or not it makes economic sense to do so is another story. I suspect we are in the first stages of a transformation in construction that is going to last 40 years, but that will ultimately see off-site manufacturing become the norm in industrialised nations, rather than the exception.”  

Kaplan believes that simplifying the manufacturing process will be key: “Lego took 30 years to go from its simple eight-button brick model to spaceships . But they got there, and so will we.” 

These advances will be needed to alleviate the housing shortage globally. “There is no silver bullet to solve the housing crisis, but I think modular and other forms of MMC are certainly a key force to doing this and to increasing output,” says Savills’ Valentine-Selsey.

A clear shot to the heart of the crisis is going to be height, as seen with Greystar’s Ten Degrees in Croydon. “The UK has really led the way with high-rise, with the US falling behind, but I see it catching up,” says Seary. 

“There’s a lot of effort to keep the [key workers] in the city so they don’t have a daily hour commute to their essential jobs. With land costs what they are, the only way you can make these deals is if you go taller.”

Winters also recognises the multiple benefits modular construction can bring: “It’s good for the industry, the environment and the affordability of homes, and that is a major topic in a lot of countries.”

“I suspect we are in the first stages of a transformation in construction that is going to last 40 years” Dafna Kaplan, Cassette

Modular schemes around the world

Hitting the heights: Ten Degrees, Croydon

At 100a George Street, Croydon, the world’s tallest modular structure is a new landmark on the south London borough landscape, developed by Greystar. It took just 26 months to complete, as opposed to around four years for a traditional build.

New residents started moving in April 2021.

A glimpse of the future: Hotel Jakarta, Amsterdam

With the future of modular predicted to be hybrid – a mix of traditional construction and modular – Hotel Jakarta Amsterdam, opened in 2018, by WestCord is an example of what to expect.

The first two floors, including the swimming pool are built on concrete. Floors three to nine are made up of 176 modules, with a wooden support structure, that were placed on site in 28 days. Designed by SeARCH architects, it has been called the most sustainable hotel in the Netherlands.

1950s inspired: Cassette Systems in California

In October, Cassette Systems launched a one-bedroom 575ft 2 pod inspired by, what company CEO, Dafna Kaplan, calls “the pragmatic beauty of case study movement housing from the 1950s ,” designed by partners, Craig Hodgetts & Ming Fung.

The pod is a self-supporting multifamily unit that stacks up to six-storeys high with no exterior bracing requirements and has a full-width window wall. “The unit expresses our company value that great design doesn’t have to be expensive,” says Kaplan.

Eco-friendly house: Gap House, Bristol

Approved in October, Gap House is an affordable MMC eco-housing scheme set to be built on disused council-owned garage plots in Bristol. 

The row of nine affordable one bed, two storey units on Bell Close in Horfield is designed by architect BDP and will be created by Etopia, with the homes commissioned and funded by Bristol City Council. BDP originally showcased its Gap House concept design at Bristol Housing Festival in 2018, as a way of helping to meet the city’s acute need for housing and revitalising neighbourhoods.  

Make sure you don’t miss anything on Modus by signing up for our newsletter.

Is the construction industry at full steam?

Highlights of the latest RICS Construction Monitor Read more

Related Articles

go to article Can the Church of England ease the housing shortage?

Gela Pertusini 25 March 2024

Building surveying

Ethical practice

Project management

Residential valuation

go to article ‘We can’t decarbonise if we don’t have a workforce’

TIna Paillet FRICS 23 March 2024

Building control

Land and resources

RICS standards and guidance

Sustainability

go to article Zollverein: converting a coal mine

Mark Williams 18 March 2024

Building conservation

Facilities management

Heritage and conservation

Infrastructure

Modular Construction Innovation in the UK: The Case of Residential Buildings

Rafiu dimeji seidu , bert ediale young , menaha thayaparan & joseph appiah-kubi, publisher: ieom society international, track: construction management.

The construction industry in the UK within the last decade has seen an increasing demand for housing and wider concerns over the need to improve performance. Comparatively, other UK industry such as car manufacturing has rapidly developed and modernised itself. Offsite technologies seem reluctant to be adopted by the construction industry. Several surveys have been carried out to examine the limitations and explore remedial actions however, house builders are uncertain in their views, hence are reluctant to embrace this innovation in helping to meet the current demand for new homes. This study has been carried out to understand the benefits and barriers of modular construction and the level of satisfaction with the modular construction over the traditional construction. The investigation was carried out through using 3 case studies, within which a combination interviews, questionnaires, site observation and document review were used for data collection. The results suggested that in comparison with traditional construction, modular construction will offer a better quality finished product, significant savings in construction programme, improved health and safety and increased end-user satisfaction. The projects reviewed have shown excellent market achievement. The authors have hence concluded that given changing client perception, improved design and procurement, and increased awareness, modular techniques will be the future home construction trend. To achieve this, increased awareness and training opportunities in modular techniques are necessary to enlighten traditional builders about the potential benefits of modular techniques.

Published in : 10th Annual International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Publisher : IEOM Society International Date of Conference : March 10-12, 2020

ISBN : 978-1-5323-5952-1 ISSN/E-ISSN : 2169-8767

Related Research

Construction industry and women: a Review of the barriers

11th Annual International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management

Published: 2021

Conceptual Framework of the Critical Success Factors of Green Building towards Sustainable Construction in United Arab Emirates

A Systematic Review to Establish a Definition for Natural Disaster Preparedness

King's College Hospital

King’s college hospital.

King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Building solution, outpatient’s building, client & project team testimonials, john wardle, chief executive.

“The whole project team, the Trust and our delivery partners have done a tremendous job of installing this large-scale building on an incredibly constrained site at the heart of this major hospital. Everyone involved worked hard to ensure the installation phase was completed as smoothly as possible.”

Stephen Hatcher, Project Manager, Associate, P+HS Architects

“The building was designed to minimise impact on the environment over its life and is targeting a BREEAM excellent rating. It will have areas of green roof to encourage biodiversity, a highly insulated building fabric to reduce heat loss and running costs, energy-efficient ventilation and electric air source heat pump system for heating, and solar panels for electricity generation.”

A complex and sustainable building was required for outpatient services at King’s College Hospital in London to allow the Trust to free up space within the main hospital to help reduce waiting times and improve the patient experience for urgent care services.

This is a busy teaching hospital which serves 700,000 people across four london boroughs and provides specialist services for a wider catchment., the offsite solution.

The £21m contract was awarded to Premier for the offsite construction of a 3,450sqm, four-storey modular healthcare building.

The use of an offsite solution for this project is ensuring faster delivery and earlier occupation to the benefit of patient care. It is also radically reducing disruption to staff and patients and the surrounding residential community during it construction.

• High degree of energy efficiency to reduce carbon emissions
• Compliance with the current and emerging London Plan
• A highly restricted site on a live hospital campus. The new building has access roads to three sides and is immediately adjacent to the Normanby Building.
• A short build programme to bring the facilities into use as fast as possible, to the benefit of patient care
• The requirement to avoid any disruption to the air ambulance during the building installation phase.

careful logistics planning

132 steel-framed modules weighing up to 11.5 tonnes each were installed using a 500-tonne crane in a complex operation.

This involved careful logistics planning to maintain access through the hospital campus at all times, and to co-ordinate cranage to avoid any disruption to the helipad and air ambulance helicopters.

the facility

The new outpatient services building will provide 48 purpose-designed consultation rooms and eight procedure rooms for a range of services, including dermatology, rheumatology, respiratory, neurosciences, pain management, and urology as well as other aspects of surgery and therapies.

user engagement in the design process

Developed in collaboration with clinicians and patient representatives, the interior design is crisp and modern, whilst assisting patients with sensory needs. To maintain patient flows, the new facility is linked to the Normanby Building at ground floor level.

The façade design is contemporary and was informed by the existing buildings on the hospital campus.A double-height feature entrance will provide visibility externally and allow high levels of natural light for the reception and waiting area.

exceeding targets for energy efficiency

The building had stringent requirements for energy efficiency in compliance with the London Plan and new SAP 10 carbon factors, to reduce emissions by:

• At least 15 per cent from non-renewable measures
• By 35 per cent overall in the final building.

The project has achieved a total reduction of 48.16 per cent of regulated carbon emissions using a combination of low carbon measures and energy from renewables:

• Enhanced building fabric specification with high levels of insulation to reduce heat loss and running costs
• Highly energy efficient system for precise heating and cooling and using heat recovery
• An efficient radiant panel system powered by air source heat pumps and as an alternative to radiator heating
• Hot water provided using a bivalent system – 65 per cent from air source heat pumps
• High efficacy LED lighting throughout with daylight dimming control to rooms with windows
• A photovoltaic array of solar panels to generate around 45kWp of electricity output.

The new building is designed in compliance with BREEAM 2018 Ene01 excellent requirements and will have areas of green roof to encourage biodiversity.

The offsite construction of the building structure also enhances the building’s sustainability credentials – with precision manufacturing to reduce heat loss, fewer vehicle movements to site, and zero waste to landfill.

Voted “Project of the Year” at the 2023 MMC Awards , Kings College Hospital is Premier Modular’s largest healthcare install to date. The delivery of the hospital demonstrates our specialist healthcare experience and offsite construction expertise, and how we’re already supported NHS infrastructure, with high-quality, compliant permanent and temporary solutions.

GET IN TOUCH WITH US

Let’s talk about your healthcare space

Whether you’re ready to get a quote or need some help and advice, we’re here to help.

Related Case Studies

Dorset county hospital nhs foundation trust, newport health and wellbeing centre, nightingale hospital exeter, download our brochure, enquire about a new project, send a general enquiry.

Healthcare Education Commercial & Industrial Retail Infrastructure Private Residential Student Accommodation Social Housing Defence Justice

WHY PREMIER

Our Expertise Our People Our Story Procurement & Frameworks Social Value Awards and Recognition

Permanent Solutions Hire Solutions Why Modular

0800 316 0888

[email protected]

Get Directions

Modular construction: From projects to products

For decades, construction has lagged behind other sectors in productivity. Modular construction offers the industry an opportunity to make a step change : shifting many aspects of building activity away from traditional construction sites and into factories with off-site, manufacturing-style production.

Modular (or prefabricated) construction is not a new concept, but technological improvements, economic demands, and changing mind-sets mean it is attracting an unprecedented wave of interest and investment. If it takes hold, it could give the industry a huge productivity boost , help solve housing crises in many markets, and significantly reshape the way we build today. Our new report, Modular construction: From projects to products , dives deeper into the issues.

What is modular construction, and how has it evolved?

In broad terms, modular construction involves producing standardized components of a structure in an off-site factory, then assembling them on-site. Terms such as “off-site construction,” “prefabrication,” and “modular construction” are used interchangeably. These terms cover a range of different approaches and systems, from single elements that are clipped together using standard connections and interfaces to 3-D volumetric units with full fixtures.

Modular construction has been a cost-efficient option at certain historical points, but its popularity has been short lived. It enjoyed postwar booms in the United Kingdom and the United States, when there was a need for speedy reconstruction and social housing, when wartime factories lay empty, and when there were shortages of steel and labor. But its popularity waned as supply and demand began to even out in the United States; a 1968 UK apartment-tower collapse also sparked concerns about the safety of prefabricated buildings.

Today, modular construction is experiencing a new wave of attention and investment, and several factors suggest it may have renewed staying power. The maturing of digital tools has radically changed the modular-construction proposition—for instance, by facilitating the design of modules and optimizing delivery logistics. Consumer perceptions of prefab housing are beginning to change, particularly as new, more varied material choices improve the visual appeal of prefab buildings.

Perhaps most important, we see a change in mind-set among construction-sector CEOs, as many leaders see technology-based disruptors entering the scene—and realizing it may be time to reposition themselves.

Potential for profound impact

Construction is one of the world’s largest sectors, so a profound shift in the sector can have a major impact on global economic productivity—and recent modular projects have already established a solid track record of accelerating project timelines by 20 to 50 percent (Exhibit 1).

The modular approach also has the potential to yield significant cost savings, although that is still more the exception than the norm today. As supply-chain players advance along the learning curve, we believe that leading real-estate players that are prepared to make the shift and optimize for scale can realize more than 20 percent in construction-cost savings, with additional potential gains in full-life costs (for instance, through reducing running costs via energy and maintenance savings) (Exhibit 2). Under moderate assumptions of penetration, the market value for modular construction in new real-estate construction alone could reach $130 billion in Europe and the United States by 2030.

Pockets of promise—especially where unmet demand coincides with labor shortages

To date, prefabricated housing has achieved a sustainable foothold in only a few places, including Japan and Scandinavia. In markets such as the United Kingdom and the United States, it has been in and out of favor since the postwar era. However, modular construction in European and US markets has the potential to deliver annual savings of up to $22 billion, and there is reason to believe the current revival could be different. The industry is adopting new, lighter-weight materials as well as digital technologies  that enhance design capabilities and variability, improve precision and productivity in manufacturing, and facilitate logistics. Countering the old reputation of prefabricated housing as an unattractive, cheap, poor-quality option, some builders are focused on sustainability, aesthetics, and the higher end of the market. New entrants and first movers that are unwilling to tolerate the industry’s fragmentation and lagging productivity are starting to disrupt the market and change the mind-sets of incumbents.

In many countries, modular construction is still very much an outlier. But there are strong signs of what could be a genuine broad-scale disruption in the making.

Many factors determine whether a given market is likely to embrace modular construction, but the two biggest determinants are real-estate demand and the availability (and relative costs) of skilled construction labor. In places such as Australia’s East Coast, Germany’s major cities, the southern part of the United Kingdom, and the US West Coast, labor shortages and large-scale unmet demand for housing intersect, making this model particularly relevant (Exhibit 3).

A real-estate disruption in the making

Capturing the full cost and productivity benefits of modular construction is not a straightforward proposition. It requires carefully optimizing the choice of materials; finding the right mix of 2-D panels, 3-D modules, and hybrid designs; and mastering challenges in design, manufacturing, technology, logistics, and assembly. It also depends on whether builders operate in a market where they can achieve scale and repeatability.

In many countries, modular construction is still very much an outlier. But there are strong signs of what could be a genuine broad-scale disruption in the making. It is already drawing in new competitors—and it will most likely create new winners and losers across the entire construction ecosystem. Different stakeholders face a series of choices.

Realizing the benefits of modular construction will require different stakeholders to make a series of choices. Developers, for example, need to identify segments of the portfolio that can serve as their “product core”; investors, on the other hand, must focus more on markets likely to be disrupted and trends defining winners and losers.

For example, a good starting point for developers is to identify the segments of a portfolio where volume and repeatability come into play. These can be designed as a “product core” that remains consistent across developments. Developers should assume that successful modularization will require more than merely asking suppliers for tender offers on existing designs; rather, they will need to work with the supply chain to optimize for manufacturability and make the right trade-offs among quality, cost savings, and time savings.

Meanwhile, for investors, the anticipated disruption will create a very different-looking landscape. This makes it a particularly interesting sector for smart investors seeking alpha at this time. They should look to understand the markets that will most likely be disrupted and the detailed trends, strategies, and capabilities that will set the winners and losers apart.

Would you like to learn more about our Capital Projects & Infrastructure Practice ?

Building-materials suppliers will face a shift in the choice of materials available to customers and prefabricators. For instance, cement companies will be affected if cross-laminated timber and steel-frame-based modules gain market share. Materials suppliers may also face an entirely different go-to-market landscape. Their customers may no longer be fragmented installers or traditional distributors but rather larger manufacturers that are optimizing for different objectives. However, these suppliers may be well positioned to enter the prefabrication space, given their knowledge both of traditional construction and of efficient manufacturing and supply-chain environments.

Modular construction in European and US markets has the potential to deliver annual savings of up to $22 billion.

Public-sector entities, like private-sector developers, will be able to capture cost savings and productivity benefits by taking a modular approach  with any large-scale publicly funded projects that have repeatable elements, such as schools and affordable housing. At the same time, the public sector has an additional role to play in facilitating modular adoption by modernizing building codes—which dovetails with the goal of removing barriers to more housing. Approval processes can be faster and more efficient if product designs and production processes can be approved in factories rather than on each individual project site, thus reducing the on-site inspection burden solely to assembly verification.

Finally, engineering and construction companies should consider preempting the trend that will see on-site construction becoming a smaller and more commoditized part of the value chain. Today, general contractors manage complex on-site projects with many subcontracted trades involved, but they may risk being cut out of a value chain focused on simple module assembly that brings with it a high degree of cost and schedule certainty.

After decades of relatively slow change, an at-scale shift to modularization—alongside digitization—looks likely to disrupt the construction industry and broader ecosystem. All players should evaluate the trend and impact, and assess their strategic choices, to ensure they can benefit rather than risk being left behind.

Download Modular construction: From projects to products , the full report on which this article is based (PDF–1MB).

Stay current on your favorite topics

Nick Bertram is an associate partner in McKinsey’s London office, Steffen Fuchs is a senior partner in the Dallas office, Jan Mischke is a partner in the Zurich office, Rob Palter is a senior partner in the Toronto office, Gernot Strube is a senior partner in the Munich office, and Lola Woetzel is a senior partner in the Shanghai office.

Explore a career with us

Related articles.

Reinventing construction through a productivity revolution

Seizing opportunity in today’s construction technology ecosystem

How analytics can drive smarter engineering and construction decisions

02380 869 719

[email protected]

CASE STUDIES

Please see below several Case study projects where GO MODULAR team member's experience is gained. By having been involved in all aspects of off-site production, construction and delivery of projects ITE Technology has been developed – it delivers on a big scale, swiftly and affordably - 

be it a modular house, a roof extension, prefabricated flats or any other modular project!

Modular building, manufactured in the factory, modular is an alternative to the traditional construction

Are you interested?

Enquire about YOUR project

Modular Homes as a New Form of Accommodation to Tackle Homelessness: A Case Study From Cambridge, England

• Open access
• Published: 12 April 2023
• Volume 51 , pages 323–336, ( 2023 )

Cite this article

You have full access to this open access article

• Richmond Juvenile Ehwi   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-4679-1472 1 , 5 ,
• Kwadwo Oti-Sarpong 2 ,
• Gemma Burgess 1 ,
• Johannes Lenhard 3 &
• Eana Meng 4  

2185 Accesses

3 Altmetric

Explore all metrics

In England, provision of temporary accommodation for people experiencing homelessness has often entailed using traditional construction approaches to deliver housing. However, recent experiments are using modular homes to provide temporary accommodation, accompanied by support services for people experiencing homelessness. Given the early nature of these trials, it is unclear what impacts these modular homes have on their occupants and how these projects in turn impact surrounding residents and businesses. We present a case study of the first modular homes for people experiencing homelessness in Cambridge, England, drawing on longitudinal interviews with the six residents occupying these homes. We found that the physical features of the homes, coupled with wrap-around support services, yielded positive short- and mid-term outcomes for occupants, including improved management of their substance use and money, skills development and readiness for employment, social relations, and a burgeoning sense of community, safety, and security. These positive outcomes have spurred wider interest, including the incorporation of modular homes as alternative temporary accommodation in the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy of Cambridge City Council, alongside a growing research interest in modular homes and other new schemes by the national government. We argue for further empirical studies of the impacts of different modular home projects, including those that admit more diverse resident cohorts and offer different accommodation types to establish a clear methodology for future modular homes projects in England and beyond.

Similar content being viewed by others

How Do Older Residents Experience a Recently Built Innovative Housing and Care Facility?

“‘Call Security’: Locks, Risk, Privacy and Autonomy in Long-term Residential Care”

Frances Tufford, Ruth Lowndes, … Sally Chivers

Framework for Inclusive Residential Projects for All: Further Research Lines

Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.

Introduction

Homelessness is a widespread social problem across most developed countries, including the UK (Bullen & Baldry, 2019 ; Fitzpatrick et al., 2021 ). In England, for example, since the first autumn headcount of people sleeping rough, the most visible form of homelessness, their numbers rose from 1,768 to 2010 to a peak of 4,751 in 2017, before declining to 2,688 in 2020 (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), 2021a ).

The UK government recognises homelessness as a social problem that will require support from central and local government and additional stakeholders, such as local businesses, communities, and faith-based groups, among others (MHCLG, 2018 ). In its 2018 ‘Rough Sleepers Strategy,’ the government committed to halving the number of people sleeping rough by 2022 and to ending homelessness altogether by 2027 (ibid.). Consequently, an array of initiatives and actions were put in place, including: the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, assigning new homelessness prevention responsibilities to local authorities; the commitment of different funding packages for local homelessness-relief and prevention initiatives; delivery of more social housing, maintaining housing benefit for all supported housing, and ensuring secure, safe, and affordable homes in the private rental housing sector (MHCLG, 2018 ).

Traditionally, tackling homelessness in England and elsewhere relies heavily on the use of temporary forms of accommodation such as emergency night shelters, hostels, and bed and breakfast accommodation (Evans, 2020 ; Fitzpatrick et al., 2021 ). In England, 96,060 people lived in temporary accommodation as at the end of September 2021 (MHCLG, 2021a ). This figure, according to the Homelessness Monitor, represents a 4% increase compared to the previous year (Crisis, 2022). Temporary accommodation options for people experiencing homelessness are often modelled around the ‘staircase approach’ that ‘entail(s) withholding permanent housing until homeless people demonstrate that they are housing ready’ (Clarke et al., 2020 :0.954). There is an extensive literature on temporary accommodation, focusing among other things on different forms of temporary accommodation (Busch-Geertsema & Sahlin, 2007 ; Watts et al., 2018 ; Wilson & Barton, 2022 ), the types and nature of support services provided (Anderson, 2010 ; Clarke et al., 2020 ), and the lived experiences of different service users (Mitchell et al., 2004 ; Watts et al., 2018 ).

However, there is growing attention in the media and grey literature regarding the use of converted shipping containers and purpose-built prefabricated modular homes to provide housing for people experiencing homelessness. Exemplars in the form of apartments built from shipping containers, 3-D printed and prefabricated houses are being used to tackle homelessness in many cities, including Los Angeles in the USA, Chennai in India (Henry, 2021 ), Toronto and Scarborough in Canada (Adler, 2020 ), and Cambridge in England (Karampour & Burgess, 2022 ). In the UK, a nationwide mapping of this new approach by Karampour & Burgess ( 2022 ) notes that these schemes differ across: (1) construction methods (e.g., modular versus shipping containers); (2) scheme sizes (< 20 units versus ≥ 20 units on site); (3) household groups (e.g., families versus singles); and (4) site availability and length of planning permission conditions (e.g., ‘meanwhile’ sites waiting to be developed for other uses versus permanent sites).

However, so far, there has been no empirical evidence of the impact of these new schemes on people experiencing homelessness, and how these schemes in turn impact the wider society. Based on unique early access to participants in the first modular homes scheme (both residents and other stakeholders) in England, we explore the extent to which such schemes engender positive outcomes for people experiencing homelessness in terms of: (1) how the modular homes have improved the living conditions of the residents who occupy them; (2) what crucial issues and questions should be considered when using modular homes as an alternative form of temporary accommodation for people experiencing homelessness; and (3) how the scheme is impacting the environment beyond residents.

We first provide empirical evidence that can inform interventions by different stakeholders involved in tackling homelessness who may be contemplating similar schemes while contributing to the literature on existing approaches to tackling homelessness (Tsemberis et al., 2004 ; Bullen & Baldry, 2019 ). Secondly, we hope to contribute to current housing policy thinking about alternative ways of providing temporary accommodation for people experiencing homelessness.

We next explore the nature and causes of homelessness, followed by a review of the literature on the experiences of households with a history of homelessness living in temporary accommodation and an introduction to the Cambridge local housing context and the modular housing project specifically. We then elaborate our research methods and present evidence regarding the impact of the modular housing on residents’ lived experiences. Our discussion concludes by highlighting key issues that warrant attention of commissioners of similar schemes elsewhere.

Literature Review

Understanding homelessness and approaches to providing housing and support services to people experiencing homelessness.

Defining homelessness remains a challenge because, as Pleace and Herman ( 2020 ) argue, defining someone as homeless requires a working definition of what constitutes a home and what does not, as well as overcoming the logistical challenges of accurately counting people experiencing homelessness. This has given rise to using the number of people sleeping rough as a common indicator of the scale of homelessness in most countries (see MHCLG, 2018 for England). This working definition however excludes other forms of ‘hidden homelessness,’ which include people sleeping in cars, tents, on public transport, in night shelters, and those sofa surfing. Homelessness has been linked to both structural constraints and subjective factors (Fitzpatrick, 2005 ). The former relates to policies, systems, and accepted practices over which households have no control, including unaffordable house prices and thus mortgages pushing households into debt, shrinkage in the provision of social housing, regulatory constraints on releasing land for affordable housing projects, labour precarity (Holmes & Burgess, 2021 ; Bramley & Fitzpatrick, 2018 ). The subjective factors relate to personal circumstances and decisions that households make within existing structural constraints that predispose them to homelessness. Examples include, experience of mental health, abuse, family breakdown, strained family relationships, poverty, and exiting from a custodial sentence (Fitzpatrick, 2005 ; Holmes & Burgess, 2021 ).

The complexity of homelessness and variations among those who experience it necessitates the provision of both housing and support services to cater to the needs of different households in strategies devised to address the issue (Anderson, 2010 ). In England as elsewhere, temporary accommodation remains the predominant form of housing provided for people experiencing homelessness (MHCLG, 2021a ). Although temporary accommodation is a constellation of different forms of shelter, they have been modelled around what is called the Treatment First or the ‘staircase’ approach (see Annika & Jöhnsson, 2011 ; Jonhsen & Teixeira, 2012) that withholds independent and permanent housing from people experiencing homelessness until they have demonstrated significant progress in aspects of their lives perceived as predisposing them to homelessness (Johnsen & Teixeira, 2012 ).

According to Johnsen and Teixeira ( 2012 ), this approach is founded on a philosophy which emphasises ‘detoxification’ and ‘sobriety’ before people experiencing homelessness can access independent housing. The proponents of this approach commonly justify its relevance based on practical arguments around the limited supply of affordable housing, especially in high-demand areas, and opportunities for health specialists and service providers, including charities and faith-based organisations, to exercise agency in delivering support to people experiencing homelessness (Padgett et al., 2016 ; Johnsen & Teixeira, 2012 ) also draw attention to how, in the UK, the Treatment First approach is compatible with how budgets are split among government departments given the impracticality of transferring cost-savings from one area (e.g., hospital accident and emergency departments) to another (e.g., criminal justice).

Experiences of Households With a History of Homelessness Living in Temporary Accommodation

The lived experiences of people with a history of homelessness in temporary accommodation are mixed, and often vary based on where they are housed, e.g., in flats, houses, bedsit, bread and breakfast hotels, hostels, women’s refuges, etc. (Mitchell et al., 2004 ). In terms of advantages, it is widely acknowledged that without temporary accommodation, people threatened with homelessness or living in precarious housing will be sleeping rough and consequently exposed to poor physical and health conditions (Watts et al., 2018 ). Empirical studies also suggest that support services provided in temporary accommodation positively impact service users. For example, in Mahoney’s (2018) study on discipline and regulation in hostels in Stoke-on-Trent (UK) residents reported that support workers regularly assisted them with activities such as planning to meet short, medium, and long-term action plans, offered counselling, reminded them to make calls to external service providers. Studying the nature of friendships among homeless drug and alcohol users living in three UK hostels, Neale and Brown ( 2016 ) observed that considerable ‘social capital’ and ‘recovery capital’ existed within hostels. Their study highlights seven types of friendships (i.e., family-like friends, using friends, childhood friends, online-only friends, drug treatment friends, work friends, and mutual interest friends) formed within hostels go further in helping to overcome the isolation felt by drug and alcohol users in homeless shelters. In addition, they observe that people experiencing homelessness living in hostels particularly valued routine and regular contacts from family-like friends and support workers. Neale and Brown ( 2016 ) also studied ‘social and recovery capital’ among homeless hostel residents who used drugs and alcohol. Among other findings, they observed that after moving into hostels, residents experienced positive relations with their families, professional service providers, other hostel residents, friends outside the hostel and with current and ex-partners. Other studies also highlight positive experiences in terms of institutional support for harm reduction, opioid substitution, residential detoxification and rehabilitation, counselling, managing finances, opportunities for education, training, and employment (Neale & Brown, 2016 ).

Although temporary accommodation provides benefits for people with a history of homelessness, such forms of housing are also criticised for several reasons. For example, a study by Watts et al. ( 2018 ) into the nature, purpose, and use of temporary accommodation in Scotland found that bread and breakfast accommodations received the most consistently negative comments from service users for their imposition of rules (e.g., curfews), routines, and lack of facilities for food storage, cooking and laundry. For hostels, residents decried the lack of autonomy and sharing facilities like bathrooms and kitchens with other people. Also, in a survey of 417 homeless people and their children living in temporary accommodation in London and East England, Mitchell et al. ( 2004 ) found that 35% agreed that their housing was damp and mouldy, with people living in bedsits, bed and breakfast hotels, and hostels concerned about lack of cooking facilities. Also, some analysts have suggested the fixed location of most temporary accommodation for people experiencing homelessness in cities often remains invisible, and their spatial fixity pre-configures the different geographies (such as of social capital, economic opportunities, influence) they can access outside their accommodation (Jackson, 2015 ; Šimon et al., 2020 ).

The Study Area

The empirical research underlying this paper was conducted in Cambridge – one of the most economically prosperous cities in the UK (Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Independent Economic Review (CPIER), 2018 ). The population of Cambridge has increased from 123,900 in 2011 to 125,063 in 2020 (Cambridgeshire Insight, 2021 ), with an age profile of young people aged under 24 constituting 37% of the city’s population (Cambridge City Council, 2019a ). Cambridge’s dwelling stock also increased by 16%, from 48,380 to 56,520 between 2011 and 2021 (Cambridgeshire Insight, 2021 ), although this increase is inadequate for the assessed housing needs in the city.

House prices in Cambridge continue to be among the highest in the country. The average property price in Cambridge as of March 2021 stood at £523,818, as opposed to £382,255 for the East of England and £348,984 for the whole of England (Cambridgeshire Insight, 2021 ). In 2019, the mean monthly cost of renting a two-bedroom house in Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire was £1,190 per month and £893 per month respectively (Cambridge City Council, 2019a ). Private renting in the city is unaffordable for many Cambridge households (see Cambridge City Council, 2019b ) and this has been acknowledged in the Greater Cambridge Housing Strategy 2019 to 2023.

Like most economically prosperous cities in the UK, Cambridge faces the problem of homelessness. Data from the ONS ( 2020 ) show that in 2020, for every 1000 households in Cambridge, six were homeless and four were threatened with homelessness. The Autumn 2018 count of rough sleepers identified 27 individuals who slept rough compared to 26 people in 2017 and 40 people in 2016 (Cambridge City Council, 2019b ). Footnote 1 Between 2013 and 2019, 24 homeless people died per million of Cambridge’s population (ONS, 2020 ), and the City Council’s Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Review cites the loss of a privately rented home and the unwillingness of friends and family members to provide accommodation as the two most common reasons why people lost their last settled homes, with both factors accounting for almost 50% of all seven causes of homelessness identified in the city (Cambridge City Council, 2019b ).

In recognition of its homelessness challenge, the City Council has recently initiated several interventions which include, but are not limited to, providing discrete temporary accommodation to single households and families experiencing homelessness, resourcing effective housing services, and partnering with local interest groups and stakeholders to explore collaborative ways of tackling homelessness and rough sleeping (Cambridge City Council, 2019a ). Significantly, the City Council has also recently published its Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2021–2026 in which it sets out six priority areas of tackling homelessness. Notably, Priority Six ‘Breaking the cycle of chronic and repeat street homelessness and rough sleeping’ commits to:

‘… expand the provision of modular homes and explore innovative ways of providing accommodation to prevent and relieve single homelessness’ (Cambridge City Council, 2021 :11).

It is within this context that the modular housing project for tackling homelessness was set up to start in 2019.

The Modular Homes Project

Our case study is the city of Cambridge’s first modular homes project, which also happens to be the first project of its kind in England. It was conceived as a collaboration between Cambridge City Council and three local organisations: Jimmy’s Cambridge , a local homelessness charity that provides emergency help, support, and accommodation for people experiencing homelessness in Cambridge; Allia , a social enterprise that supports social and environmental impact organisations with space, support, and access to capital; and New Meaning Foundation , a social enterprise which specialises in individual attitude development, ethical construction, and social action (Burgess et al., 2020a , b ). The shared goal of this project was to provide individuals experiencing homelessness with housing complemented by wrap-around support services designed to help them overcome substance use and other life challenges (ibid.).

The project comprises six self-contained units, each measuring 25 square metres. The units were produced using modular construction techniques (Burgess et al., 2020b ), which entails the design, production, and assembly of components of construction projects in a factory before they are installed on site (Burgess et al., 2020a , b ). The ‘meanwhile site’ leased for the project is owned by a church in Cambridge that has no immediate use for the land but has long term plans for its redevelopment. Accordingly, planning permission for the project was granted for three years from mid-October 2019, on the condition that the project would be a transitional phase to help tackle homelessness in the city. However, the units could be moved to a new site when the planning permission expires and the church is ready to redevelop the land.

Several local stakeholders offered in-kind contributions towards different aspects of the project, including land acquisition, legal services, planning consultancy, manufacturing and storage of the units, groundworks and on-site installation, engineering, landscape design and finishing, and fit-out such as upholstery, lighting, kitchen sink and countertops, and decorated walls. Each of the units has a private bathroom, and is fully furnished with living and bedroom furniture, white goods, crockery, and a flat-screen wall-mounted television. Each unit has its own front door with a porch area, and there is a communal garden and a bicycle shed. The site is fenced with a low, wooden fence and the shared frontage is provided with individual letterboxes (Figs.  1 and 2 ).

Interior view of the modular homes with white goods and furnishings. (Source: Authors’ site visit (June 2020))

Exterior view of the modular homes showing frontage, letterboxes, communal garden and bicycle storage

The selection of residents to occupy the modular homes was made with input from different stakeholders of the local ecosystem of homeless service providers and local councils. First, the local homelessness charity, Jimmy’s Cambridge, drew on its database of people accessing homelessness support to shortlist 13 potential residents. This list was presented to both the City Council and the Street Outreach Team – Cambridge (Change Grow Live) and reduced to six shortlisted candidates. Initially, the short list included one female candidate, but prior to the moving-in date, she was withdrawn from the shortlist due to a significant change in personal circumstances, and her place was offered to another male candidate. Overall, the criteria for selecting the residents were informed by a combination of individual housing needs and the perceived level of support that residents would require to help them move on into permanent housing. The level of support needs was deemed to be medium to low, excluding for example people actively using drugs and people with a diagnosis of a mental health condition. Being the first of its kind in Cambridge, the project stakeholders also felt the need to strike a balance between people who were considered as ‘high risk’ and would need greater support to live in the modular homes and those with a higher prospect of progressing to independent living with limited support from Jimmy’s (Burgess et al., 2020a , b ). This setup was further supported by choosing a resident with low support needs and stable circumstances to act as a warden, a condition built into the planning permission. The warden’s role is to liaise between the residents and the team of floating support workers who were required to be on site for up to six hours during each working visit and contactable 24 h a day, seven days a week. The COVID-19 pandemic delayed both the initial date for installation of the modular units and the move-in dates. However, in July 2020, the first group of six residents moved in.

Our study is exploratory and not intended as an evaluation of the effectiveness of modular homes in tackling homelessness. Our interest lies in bringing together what can be learned from the project based on the lived experience of the residents to make available to groups and organisations contemplating similar schemes elsewhere. Our exploratory approach is important as these projects are very new in England (and indeed around the world), and many more are being planned for implementation across the country (Karampour & Burgess, 2022 ).

Consequently, we adopted a qualitative method grounded in an interpretivist ontology to allow residents to subjectively reflect on their individual lived experiences before and after moving into the modular homes. Persaud et al. (2010) note that lived experience is a key viewpoint in qualitative research, relevant for understanding a person’s unique perspectives on their daily experiences and how that reflects their social and cultural worlds. As COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in England were still in place when the residents first moved into the modular homes, video interviews over Zoom were used for data collection.

We interviewed a total of 18 participants: six residents, five project stakeholders, two in-kind and cash donors, and three support workers. The first set of interviews was with residents, and took place in four rounds, the first of which was conducted briefly before residents moved in. These interviews provided us with a baseline understanding of the expectations people had about the modular homes. We conducted the second set of interviews a week into their residency to continue learning about their past experiences, including how and why they became homeless. We also used the interviews to ascertain residents’ initial impressions of the modular homes and their expectations for the next two years of their stay. The third round of interviews was conducted six months into their residency to find out about their experience, what difficulties they were facing and how they addressed them. We conducted a final round of interviews in July 2021 (12 months after move-in) to ascertain residents’ subjective evaluation of their progress and future housing trajectory. On each interview day, a support worker from Jimmy’s Cambridge visited the residents and passed around an iPad for the interviews. Each interview session typically lasted between 40 and 60 min and was recorded with residents’ permission. Our interviews with project stakeholders aimed to gauge their expectations for the project and what would count as success. They included Jimmy’s senior management, a representative of the church that offered the land, the project champion – who was instrumental in the project financing, land acquisition, planning application, partnership formation, and furnishing of the units, and officials from the Cambridge city council. For project donors, we designed our interviews to elucidate their motivation for contributing to the project and what would count as success, while in interviews with support workers we sought to corroborate the accounts shared by residents and to obtain support workers’ perspectives regarding both the challenges each resident was facing and the progress they believed had been made so far. Ethical requirements were adhered to. Footnote 2 Finally, we transcribed the recorded interviews using the audio transcription software Otter.ai. To ensure trustworthiness, we provided interviewees with the verbatim transcriptions to confirm that they captured their views accurately.

In analysing the transcripts, we used the common thematic areas highlighted when analysing the impact of homelessness interventions such as Housing First Pilots (see MHCLG, 2021b ). These comprised improvements in areas of livelihood such as: (1) drug and alcohol use; (2) money management skills; (3) employment, skills development, and readiness for work; (4) relationship management; (5) sense of community, safety, and security; and (6) intended housing trajectory. Using these livelihood categories, we examined how residents described the changes they had experienced since moving into the modular homes and the specific evidence they adduced to support their claims. We present relevant extracts from the transcript that illuminated specific challenges that residents’ previously experienced and the positive impacts that living in the modular homes had on them as evidence of impact. Approval for the use of any quotes and interpretations drawn from them was granted by the residents and the homelessness charity. All interviewees were anonymised.

Background: Demographic Information and Abbreviated Life Histories of the Residents

All six residents living in the modular homes are single men aged between their late twenties to early sixties; all have educational attainments below a university degree. Two have children who do not live with them. This demographic profile reinforces recent findings from surveys in England and Scotland that the odds of experiencing homelessness are higher among single adult men and single parents (Bramley & Fitzpatrick, 2018 ). Before experiencing homelessness, all residents were engaged in some form of economic activity, with previous jobs including painting and decorating, cabinet and furniture making, construction labour, and retail assistant.

Also, consistent with the literature (Fitzpatrick et al., 2021 ), the initial trigger for moving out of stable accommodation varied markedly among the residents. The reasons given for becoming homeless included disputes with close family members, loss of employment, eviction following a landlord’s decision to sell the property, death of a partner who was responsible for paying the rent, and loss of close family, housing, and all personal assets in a fire.

The length of time that residents had been sleeping rough or moving in and out of temporary accommodation varied. For example, one resident had been homeless for over 20 years, another had been in and out of temporary accommodation for over 10 years, and others had served short custodial sentences. The residents shared a common struggle with drug and alcohol use, which some said helped them to cope with anxiety and challenging life experiences.

Results: Impacts of Living in the Modular Homes

Drug and alcohol use.

Almost all the residents struggled with drugs and/or alcohol use, which negatively impacted multiple aspects of their lives. Such negative impacts included but were not limited to difficulties in maintaining good mental and physical health, finding or keeping a job, sustaining a tenancy, making sound financial decisions, maintaining relationships, regular encounters with the criminal justice system, and difficulties in accessing medical assistance. Reflecting on their experiences over the 12 months, residents indicated how living in the modular homes and receiving support services helped them make positive behavioural changes in dealing with their drug and alcohol use. One resident remarked:

Living here, oh everything is good! I can’t say anything bad. It’s got me off drugs, got a roof over my head, it’s got me back to work…can’t say anything bad really. I’ve stopped using drugs altogether. There’s nothing bad about the place. Everything’s positive.

Our findings also suggested that, in addition to residents’ individual determination to make improvements while living in the self-contained modular homes, a review of the conditions in the tenancy agreements residents signed may have also contributed to the positive impacts as their license agreement explicitly forbids the use of illegal drugs and alcohol in the units: ‘The licensee will not have, use or supply (or allow visitors to have, use or supply) illegal drugs in The House’ (Paragraph 8 of the License Agreement). These conditions notwithstanding, it is worth noting that all residents volunteered to live in these modular homes and, before moving in, pre-tenancy meetings were held by the homelessness charity to provide an opportunity for the residents to discuss and be aware of the conditions for their continued stay in the modular homes. Residents were also advised that random checks would be conducted by support workers during their stay to ensure that they were not breaking this condition of their residency. One resident in particular actively demanded regular drug tests that helped him keep himself accountable. The majority of residents throughout our study adhered to these conditions while living in the units. One, however, was evicted, based partly on his drug use leading to behaviours characterised as ‘seriously disruptive and violent’ under Paragraph 10.4, Grounds for Ending License Agreement (Jimmy’s Cambridge, 2020 , p. 8).

Money Management Skills

Before moving into the modular homes, some residents faced difficulties in managing their finances and as a result they were unable to regularly pay rent and other bills promptly. Living in the modular homes came with financial obligations, and the License Agreement stipulated that residents were responsible for weekly charges, comprising housing benefit claimed from the council, any ineligible personal charge, and the licensee’s rent. Failure to honour these commitments constituted grounds for ending the tenancy under Paragraph 10.2(i) of the License Agreement ( 2020 ). We found that offering residents advice on budgeting and managing their money as part of the wrap-around services provided helped some of them to improve their money management skills, with two-thirds confirming that they were paying their rent and service charges promptly. To help the remaining one third who had missed their weekly rent payment at some point, additional support and flexible payment terms have been extended to help them sustain their tenancy. Residents were aware that defaulting on rent payment has implications for their tenancies – ‘a problem’ and hence there is a strong incentive to honour their commitment whilst also developing the skills and discipline around financial management. As one noted: “I have been paying my rent on time and there is no problem.”

For other residents, the improvement in money management is best illustrated when faced with a choice over how to use windfall income, as one described:

I’ve managed to get my sick pay, which was backdated. It wasn’t a lot but enough…. I had a choice to buy a motorbike, which I really did want, or to buy tools because I need them to try and get myself back into some kind of work or whatever. So, I decided, ‘Right, buy the tools.’ I made a commitment, bought the tools. I’ve bought all of the tools.

As can be seen, the improvements residents are making in their money management skills extend beyond just honouring their financial commitments as part of living in the modular homes effectively to preparing for manging income from employment, necessary to support independent living.

Employment, Skills Development, and Readiness for Work

Our initial interviews with the residents immediately after they moved indicated a reluctance in terms of finding work. This may have been partly attributable to the need for them to first settle into their new homes before focusing on finding employment. However, one year into their residency, our evidence suggests that residents are keen to (return to) work. As we noted earlier, not all the residents were jobless before experiencing homelessness, and our findings show that among those previously employed some are planning to return to their previous line of work. For example, a resident who sold newspapers but had stopped during the COVID-19 lockdown, resumed work following the easing of lockdown restrictions. Another resident, who was a skilled cabinet and furniture maker but had not worked for a long time, seemed keen to return to his trade. He observed:

The job I am familiar with is how to make cabinets and furniture and decorate houses. I want to work till retirement. I’m returning to my passion. I’ve got a goal; I’ve got a plan. I can’t believe I’m saying that but yeah…it’s amazing really.

Not only motivated to return to work, this resident sees a return to work as part of his plan towards the realisation of his goal of being able to retire. For those residents who were not previously employed, we found that with the assistance of the homeless charity, some were learning new skills, including through specialised training (e.g., in construction, barbering). The enthusiasm and commitments that residents had demonstrated in terms of their readiness for work was corroborated by the support workers who had worked closely with them to, among other things, help them register for and take tests required for starting work and training courses, and offering suggestions for the purchase of relevant work equipment:

We’ve got one individual who has got a CSCS Footnote 3 test… and he starts a new job within the next week. He’s already been offered the job; he’s just got to do the CSCS test for working on a building site before he goes into full-time work. I think six months ago when you spoke to him about returning to work, that wasn’t even an option. We’ve got another resident who’s just going to start college in September to do barbering. – Support worker, Jimmy’s

Importantly, beyond providing shelter for the residents, the modular homes have also given them a residential address that can be used in completing employment-related forms and accessing various welfare benefits.

Relationship Management

From their backgrounds, we learnt that the breakdown of social relations was one of the pathways leading some residents into homeless. For this group in particular there was a strong desire to restore broken relationships and to reconnect with family members once they secured decent and stable accommodation. It is worth noting here that prolonged homelessness and destructive behaviours such as drug use can make it difficult for people experiencing homelessness to reconnect with family members and restore familial relations. Another reason for some people to choose not to connect is feeling shame. One resident, whose son had been taken into foster care because of his lack of stable accommodation, intimated that living in the modular homes for the past 12 months has given him grounds to apply for custody of the child. He remarked that:

I am doing everything I can to get back my child. That place [referring to foster care] is not good for him… So, I am staying clean, and I hope that in no time I can get my rented place and get back my child. … I love that boy, I don’t want him to be put in foster care. […] Me and the social services don’t really get on very well. So, luckily for me, I’ve got [support worker] on my side who can speak up for me… I ask him to do my speaking for me if I need to speak to them.

Two points are noteworthy here. The first is the allusion to ‘staying clean’ – a reference to not using illegal drugs while living in the modular homes and not continuously disengaging with the support services offered for tackling addiction issues – which for this resident signals an ability to remain drug free and thus sustain his tenancy. The second is that there is evidence of a healthy, trusting relationship between residents and support workers, such that one support worker is willing to testify in a custody hearing about the progress that a resident has made in staying sober and maintaining a tenancy.

Another resident said living in the modular home has helped him to tackle his alcohol use and to reconnect with his daughter for the first time in over 20 years:

Before moving here, I barely spoke to my daughter. Now I talk to my daughter every week, twice a week. Living here has allowed me to make some improvements. I’ve been clean for 14 months. She’s coming to see me here for my birthday in July.

Based on the above it is plausible to argue that his modular home – in terms of size, furnishing, exclusive access to front doors, security arrangements – offers a congenial atmosphere for him to host his daughter.

These responses indicate that there is a strong connection between having comfortable, stable housing, and receiving adequate support and reconnecting with family members. Living in the modular homes offers more than shelter as it can, on the one hand, inspire a sense of self confidence overcoming shame and eventually even engender pride among residents to invite close relatives to their new home, and at the same time provide evidence to demonstrate they are able to lead a responsible life.

Sense of Community, Safety, and Security

Our interviews showed that a sense of community has developed among the residents since moving into the modular homes. This is reflected in a combination of external, communal, and individual initiatives, including being invited to the local church’s Christmas celebration – a gesture the residents described as creating a ‘good feeling.’

The bespoke nature of the units has also attracted curious passers-by to occasionally stop and engage residents in brief conversations. Whilst some residents view such encounters as intrusive, they can be considered as a means of fostering positive social interaction between the residents and the public, and of raising awareness about the modular housing project. Internally, residents get along well with each other and interact mainly through (un)planned conversations across porches or over tea in the shared garden on the premises. They all expressed keen interest to support regular communal meals and outdoor socialising events during the summer months. Illustrating the growing sense of trust between some of the residents, borne out of the sense of community, one described how another resident had confided in him regarding a medical condition and imminent surgery:

Yeah, everyone has been good, it’s only [fellow resident] who told me he was suffering from terrible back pain some time ago, but he’s going to go for surgery to fix that soon.

The shared sense of community also feeds into the sense of safety and security felt by all residents. Our first round of interviews revealed that residents had experienced insecurity in previous accommodation because of the behaviour of other tenants. One resident described how he had left a shared house after being threatened by a fellow resident and gone back to sleeping rough, despite the dangers. However, a year into their residency in the modular homes, residents were feeling a greater sense of safety and security:

Well, living here is safe for me and I like it. I’ve got my own place, I can stay locked in to prevent any trouble from others, but the guys are generally nice so there’s no trouble at all. We’ve got cameras around here and they help to keep us safe.

The sense of safety connects first, to the fact that the units are self-contained and fully furnished prevents low level disagreements over shared items and offers protection against outsiders; second, the sense of community that the residents have developed can be relied upon to ward off potential intruders on site, reinforced by the security cameras installed on the premises; and third, the modular homes offered not only a shelter but one’s own space and ‘own front door,’ which allows a certain level of independence and also a sense of personal ownership that extends to the ability to make decisions for oneself. We heard repeatedly from residents that having one’s front door is very much a benefit of the modular homes versus hostel or other kinds of shared housing offerings.

Future Housing Aspirations

We found mixed future housing aspirations among the six residents, underpinned by different motivations. Some aspire to move into permanent accommodation for familial reasons:

Yeah, they will not let me have my boy until I am clean and have my flat, so I have to find my own place. [….] My friend was in a similar situation, so he rented a flat and applied to take back his child and he was successful, though he was still a heavy drinker.

The extent that this resident’s desire to move into permanent housing is inspired by a sense of readiness or desperation to obtain custody of his child is unclear. This is important because according to a support worker the time and degree of support residents require to feel confident about moving into independent housing varies, for example one described a young resident as:

[He] is young and doesn’t have problems with drugs or anything. However, he needs a lot more work in terms of money management, mental health and wrap-around support. His mood gets quite low, and his anxiety seems to have been worsened by COVID. He is not ready to move on. – Support worker, Jimmy’s

It is critical to offer people experiencing homelessness the maximum amount of appropriate support for as long as is practically possible, especially given that individuals may over-estimate their progress in their bid for independence. This is important in helping balance a strong desire and motivation to ‘move on’ with the need to avoid making a premature decision to move into permanent independent housing before being fully prepared to do so.

Other residents saw moving out of the modular home into permanent accommodation as a pathway for (re)integrating into society and leading a ‘normal life.’ It is however important to note that there was a case where support workers confirmed the readiness of one resident to move into permanent independent housing:

[He] is moving out imminently. We’ve helped him get a Band A, so he’s looking forward to getting his property. But it has just been slow with the move-on property due to COVID. – Support worker, Jimmy’s

In contrast, some residents do not currently want to move out of the modular homes if the units will be relocated to sites within Cambridge, for example, one resident revealed a sense of place attachment, but also attachment to the units and the bespoke configuration of the support:

I am not looking forward to being told where I am going to be put next after here. I hope the three-year limit will extend to five years. It will be difficult for me to move out but if the next location is not outside Cambridge, then that will be fine.

Altogether, the varied housing trajectory aspirations show that people experiencing homelessness can be helped to find ‘permanent’ housing in different ways that should be recognized by stakeholders involved in tackling the problem of homelessness.

Notwithstanding the positive outcomes this project has delivered to residents, there are important issues to be considered by key stakeholders and policymakers elsewhere considering modular homes as alternative temporary accommodation for people experiencing homelessness including the impact the project has had beyond the individual resident’s outcomes.

Firstly, the reliance on ‘meanwhile’ sites for these projects may present a significant risk given the difficulties in finding land in suitable locations. While our case study project is sited in a central location in Cambridge that offered easy access to key amenities (e.g., electricity, sewage, internet, water, transport, recreational facilities) deemed critical in residential location decision-making (see Balta & Öztürk 2021 ), future schemes elsewhere may not enjoy similar locational advantages. Indeed, a nationwide survey of modular homes indicated that some container and modular homes for people experiencing homelessness lacked additional onsite facilities such as play areas for children, or communal and open green spaces (Karampour & Burgess, 2022 ). Project promoters should carefully consider the location of similar projects since it will have implications for the wellbeing of residents (cf. Mingoya, 2015 ). We strongly advocate further research examining the contribution of project location to improve residents’ outcomes, as well as, considering the early stage of our understanding of modular homes generally, whether the reliance on ‘meanwhile’ land can be sustained and what alternatives may be available.

In our case study, ‘meanwhile land’ was used to offer residents a limited tenancy based on a 3-year lease. At the time of writing, the landowner had neither requested extended planning permission for the land nor indicated immediate permanent development plans for after the current lease expires. Thus, it is possible that the modular homes will be able to remain on the site if the planning permission is renewed. However, the modular homes are intended to provide temporary accommodation in the expectation that after three years the first cohort of residents will have made progress towards independent housing making them available to accommodate a new cohort if the site remains available. However, not all the residents in our case study demonstrated readiness to move into independent housing. A strong need for clarity appears in terms of whether residents can continue in the modular homes after the expiration of their three year lease if they are insufficiently prepared to move on. This is particularly important given that the planning permission was issued for temporary accommodation, requiring tenants to move on even if the site remains usable. Clarity on this is important is necessary because if residents must leave at the end of their tenancy period regardless of their readiness for independent living, any gains they may have made during the period of supported living could be reversed. Thus, consistency – at least in terms of communication – is vital.

Third, since some residents expressed a desire to continue living in the modular homes (after the three years and even after the relocation of the units), it may be possible to include these (or other) self-contained modular homes within the available move-on and long-term housing options. Indeed, one resident reported during the interviews that he felt lost and struggled to cope when placed in a flat with larger spaces. Thus, the conventional idea of independent housing cannot be conceived as a “one size fits all” solution, which aligns closely to recent discussions about what ‘a dwelling’ must look like in the radical housing literature (see Lancione, 2020 ). Cambridge City Council includes modular homes in the options of move-on homes for people experiencing homelessness, supporting our findings that suggest, for some, it is easier to sustain a long-term tenancy in a modular home with their ‘own front door’ than in other, often shared, housing options.

Fourth, while the support services offered within modular homes seem to mirror the Treatment First approach, these modular homes differ significantly from the conventional ‘brick-and-mortar’ on-site temporary accommodations for people experiencing homelessness in terms of the cheaper cost of units, minimal on-site variations, shorter delivery time, environmental-friendliness, and the potential to re-site units (e.g., Ehwi et al., 2022 ). These advantages make the use of modular homes as temporary accommodation crucial, especially as the UK housing market is characterised in part by a stagnant supply of social housing between 2008 and 2018 (ONS, 2019 ), rising house prices (Sissons & Houston, 2019 ) and a growing number of people threatened with homelessness (Fitzpatrick et al., 2021 ), all contributing to longer waiting times to access long-term housing.

In our study project, residents are able to re-decorate and reorganize the interior of their units to better reflect their tastes and preferences, and are permitted to host guests such as family members. However, they cannot alter other structural components of their units, including but not limited to design, the size, construction materials. This should not detract from the opportunity of home-making the modular homes provide residents, not offered to any comparable degree by other forms of temporary accommodation, like bed and breakfast hotels, day centers, and hostels (Jackson, 2015 ).

Also unlike other forms of temporary housing, modular homes offer residents the opportunity to experience the city environment and navigate its different geographies (social capital, economic opportunities, and even risks) in different ways, even if the project is relocated to different sites across a city (Jackson, 2015 ; Šimon et al., 2020 ). At the same time, this possibility provides an opportunity to influence how the wider society views homelessness and approaches those who experience it. Indeed, as we found, the siting of the scheme close to an already existing local community created opportunities for community members to interact with the residents, providing opportunities for learning and potentially challenging derogatory stereotypes of people experiencing homelessness. A visit by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to our study project illustrates the visibility such schemes enjoy (see Leishman 2022 ; ITV News, 2022 ) Footnote 4 .

It also instructive to highlight that the impact the modular homes and their residents are having beyond enhancing public awareness of homelessness in profoundly impacting the type of temporary accommodation offered to people experiencing homelessness. As noted above, the Cambridge City Council incorporates the provision of modular homes in its 2021–2026 Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy as an alternative form of temporary accommodation, and another 22 local authorities in England have followed suit (Karampour & Burgess, 2022 ). Notably, the Department of Levelling Up, Communities, and Local Government (DLUHC) Footnote 5 highlights its support for research on new schemes for tackling homelessness including modular homes (DLUHC, 2022 ). The implication is that government funding will likely be made available to support research related to this new form of temporary accommodation. Nevertheless, questions remain about how these new schemes tackle the structural factors contributing to and perpetuating homelessness (Fitzpatrick, 2005 ) or whether they are part of an attempt to simply reduce the statistics on rough sleeping across cities, and possibly attenuate or distract from the strong argument for both government and local authorities to provide more socially affordable housing for households priced out of the housing market and facing precarious housing conditions.

Finally, it should be borne in mind that that this is a pilot project and the residents selected to occupy the units were drawn from individuals who had at some point engaged with Jimmy’s (the homeless charity). We cannot claim that similar outcomes will be achieved for new schemes that target people with more complex support needs and who have not otherwise sought assistance. Our sample is dominated by single adults with less complex needs (see Bramley & Fitzpatrick 2018 ). Thus, it will be helpful to learn how different cohorts of residents will fare in the modular homes, having regard to personal characteristics (e.g., gender, household type, ethnicity, etc.), different housing designs (e.g., multiple storeys) and levels of support needs (e.g., moderate to complex). It is also unclear whether there is an optimum number of modular homes per site to sustain the positive outcomes realised from this case study. Furthermore, a robust evaluation comparing modular homes to other more common forms of temporary accommodation might yield a better understanding of the key factors leading to the positive outcomes documented.

Our findings document how homelessness is being tackled through a novel approach that involves the use of self-contained modular homes and wrap-around support services in the city of Cambridge. Based on longitudinal interviews with residents, we found that residents experienced positive outcomes across a variety of dimensions: improvements in drug, alcohol, and money management skills, readiness for employment and skills development, improved social relations, a burgeoning sense of community, and a sense of personal safety and security. However, the future housing trajectories of the residents varied, driven by different motivations that highlighted the need to create room for innovative move-on housing arrangements to cater for individual requirements.

As this new approach to tackling homelessness continues to gain support across the UK (see Karampour & Burgess, 2022 ) and beyond, more empirical research is needed to understand issues regarding the design and implementation of these schemes. Also, further studies involving larger and more diverse (in terms of gender, needs requirements, ethnicity, etc.) cohorts of residents living in different kinds (e.g., number of units on site) of modular housing and receiving varying levels of support, is needed to better capture the key factors that help deliver positive outcomes. We are aware of potential debates around whether these modular homes are merely token interventions by city leaders to shift public attention away from the shortage of more affordable social housing or present a ‘convenient partnership’ to allow local politicians to reduce the number of homeless rough sleepers in their cities. However, we argue that our case study demonstrates that providing people experiencing homelessness with their ‘own front door’ in conjunction with ‘wrap-around’ social services can allow them to readjust to fruitful participation in the wider society, including with their own families, and that this option should therefore be included in the array of temporary accommodation and social services offered to people experiencing homelessness worldwide.

Data Availability

The datasets generated during the current study are not publicly available due to sensitivity and confidentiality of data but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

We know from conversations with stakeholders and research during the first phase of Covid (including in emergency Covid Hotels) that this number is a drastic underestimation, and the number of people sleeping rough in Cambridge on any given night is likely to be closer to 100 (i.e., three times as high as the official count).

These included explaining the purpose of the research, seeking participants’ consent, completing Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks, and outlining protocols to guarantee participants’ anonymity.

CSCS stands for Construction Skills Certification Scheme. It is a test designed to give individuals working in the construction industry the requisite knowledge in the areas of health, safety, and environment, so that they can identify hazards on site and take preventive steps ( https://cscstest.org.uk/ ).

ITV is a UK-based television station.

That is the government’s acronym in use. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-levelling-up-housing-and-communities .

Adler, M. (2020). Modular housing for homeless people fast tracked in Scarborough . Toronto News. Accessed on 18 Feb. 2022 via: https://www.toronto.com/news-story/10231984-modular-housing-for-homeless-people-fast-tracked-in-scarborough/ .

Anderson, I. (2010). Services for homeless people in Europe: Supporting pathways out of homelessness? In E. O’Sullivan, V. Busch-Geertsema, D. Quilgars, & N. Pleace (Eds.), Homelessness Research in Europe (pp. 41–63). Brussels: FEANTSA.

Google Scholar  

Annika, R., & Jönsson, A. (2011). Sam Tsemberis (2010). Housing First: The Pathways Model to End Homelessness for People with Mental Illness and Addiction Manual. European Journal of Homelessness , 5 (20), 235–240.

Available at: https://www.cchpr.landecon.cam.ac.uk/sites/files/media/cambridge_modular_homes_resident_experiences_1021.pdf . Accessed: 05/11/2021

Balta, M., & Öztürk (2021). Examining the dynamics of residential location choice in metropolitan areas using an analytical hierarchical process. Journal of Urban Planning and Development , 147 (4), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)UP.1943-5444.0000753 .

Article   Google Scholar  

Bramley, G., & Fitzpatrick, S. (2018). Homelessness in the UK: who is most at risk?.risk? Housing Studies, 33:1, 96–116 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02673037.2017.1344957 .

Bullen, J., & Baldry, E. (2019). ‘I waited 12 months’: how does a lack of access to housing undermine Housing First? International Journal of Housing Policy, 19 (1), 120–130 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/19491247.2018.1521187 .

Burgess, G., Lenhard, J., Ehwi, R. J., Meng, E. X., & Oti-Sarpong, K. (2020a). Modular Housing Project: Preliminary findings. Available at: https://www.cchpr.landecon.cam.ac.uk/files/documents/DownloadTemplate_53.pdf Accessed: 26/06/2021. Cambridge: Cambridge Centre for Housing and Planning Research.

Burgess, G., Oti-Sarpong, K., & Shojaei, R. (2020b). Tackling the housing crisis through digital technologies and offsite manufacturing . Cambridge: Bennett Institute for Public Policy. Available at: https://www.cchpr.landecon.cam.ac.uk/files/media/indust._strat._tackling_the_housing_crisis_through_digital_technologies_and_offsite_manufacturing_3_fnl.pdf Accessed: 04/11/2021.

Busch-Geertsema, V. & Sahlin, I. (2007) The role of hostels and temporary accommodation. European Journal of Homelessness , 1 , 67–93.

Cambridge City Council (2019a). Homes for our future: Greater Cambridge Housing Strategy 2019–2023 . [Online]. Available at: https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/media/7296/greater-cambridge-housing-strategy-2019.pdf . Accessed: 26/06/2021.

Cambridge City Council (2019b). Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Review . [Online]. Available at: https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/media/8072/homelessness-and-rough-sleepingreview.pdf . Accessed: 02/07/2021.

Cambridge City Council (2021). Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2021–2026 [Online]. Available at https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/media/9099/homelessness-and-rough-sleeping-strategy-2021-26.pdf . Accessed: 06/10/2021.

Cambridge City Council (2021b). Six new modular homes help people who have experienced homelessness move on with their lives . [Online]. Available at https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/news/2021/06/16/six-new-modular-homes-help-people-who-have-experienced-homelessness-move-on-with-their-lives . Accessed 01/03/2022

Cambridgeshire, I. (2021). Housing market bulletin. Edition 49, June 2021 Housing Board for Cambridgeshire, Peterborough & West Suffolk. [Online]. AAvailable at: https://cambridgeshireinsight.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/hmb-49-june2021.pdf . Accessed: 04/08/21.

Clarke, A., Parsell, C., & Vorsina, M. (2020). The role of housing policy in perpetuating conditional forms of homelessness support in the era of Housing First: Evidence from Australia. Housing Studies, 35:5, 954–975 . DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02673037.2019.1642452 .

CPIER (2018). Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Independent Economic Review: Final Report (Issue September) [Online]. Available at: http://www.cpier.org.uk/media/1668/cpier-report-140918-na-lowres.pdf . Accessed: 15/03/21.

DLUHC. (2022). DLUHC areas of research interest . Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dluhc-areas-of-research-interest/dluhc-areas-of-research-interest . [Accessed 20/07/2022].

Ehwi, R. J.,? Oti-Sarpong, K., Shojaei, R., & Burgess, G. (2022). Offsite manufacturing research: A systematic review of methodologies used. Construction Management and Economics , 40 (1), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2021.2007537

Evans, K. (2020). Tackling Homelessness with Tiny Houses: An Inventory of Tiny House Villages in the United States. Professional Geographer, 72(3), 360–370 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00330124.2020.1744170 .

Fitzpatrick, S. (2005). Explaining Homelessness: a Critical Realist Perspective. Housing, Theory and Society, 22:1, 1–17 , DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14036090510034563 .

Fitzpatrick, S., Watts, W., Pawson, H., Bramley, G., Wood, J., Stephens, M., & Blenkinsopp, J. (2021). The homelessness monitor: England 2021 . [Online]. Available at: https://www.crisis.org.uk/media/244702/crisis-england-monitor-2021.pdf Accessed: 14/07/2021.

Henry, P. (2021). These innovative projects are tackling homelessness around the world . World Economic Forum. [Online]. Available at: Accessed on 18 Feb. 2022 via: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/10/innovative-projects-tackling-homelessness-around-the-world/ Accessed: 18/02/22.

Holmes, H., & Burgess, G. (2021). Homelessness Prevention through One-To-One Coaching: The Relationship between Coaching, Class Stigma, and Self-Esteem. Housing, Theory and Society, 38(5), 580–596 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14036096.2021.1887348 .

itv News (2022). ‘Big Issue seller shows Duke and Duchess of Cambridge around his home. Available at: https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2022-06-23/duke-and-duchess-of-cambridge-visit-big-issue-sellers-home . Accessed 4 October 2022.

Jackson, E. (2015). Young homeless people and urban space: Fixed in mobility . Abingdon: Routledge.

Jimmy’s Cambridge. (2020). License agreement between Jimmy’s Cambridge and residents. Unpublished document.

Johnsen, S., & Teixeira, L. (2012). ‘Doing it Already?’: Stakeholder perceptions of housing first in the UK. International Journal of Housing Policy , 12 (2), 183–203. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616718.2012.681579

Karampour, K. & Burgess, G. (2022). Net zero ready new build housing: The benefits and barriers to delivery . Cambridge Centre for Housing and Planning Research. Available at: https://www.cchpr.landecon.cam.ac.uk/file/net-zero-ready-new-build-housing-benefits-and-barriers-delivery (Accessed 31/03/2023).

Lancione, M. (2020). Radical housing: On the politics of dwelling as difference. International Journal of Housing Policy , 20 (2), 273–289. https://doi.org/10.1080/19491247.2019.1611121

Leishman, F. (2022). Prince William and Kate Middleton visit Jimmy’s innovative modular homes in Cambridge. Cambridge News. Available at: https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/gallery/kate-and-will-visit-jimmys-24304129 . Accessed 4 October 2022.

MHCLG. (2017). Fixing our broken housing market. [Online]. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/590464/Fixing_our_broken_housing_market_-_print_ready_version.pdf . Accessed: 19/01/2022.

MHCLG. (2018). Rough sleeping strategy . Crown Copyright. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1102469/Rough-Sleeping-Strategy_2018.pdf [Accessed 20/07/2021].

MHCLG. (2021a). Rough sleeping snapshot in England: Autumn 2020 . Available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/rough-sleeping-snapshot-in-england-autumn-2020/rough-sleeping-snapshot-in-england-autumn-2020 [Accessed: 14/07/2021].

MHCLG (2021b). Evaluation of the Housing First Pilots: Second Process Evaluation Report [Online]. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/946110/Housing_First_first_interim_process_report.pdf . Accessed: 21/01/2022.

Mingoya, C. (2015). Building together. Tiny House Villages for the Homeless: A comparative case study. Dissertation , Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Mitchell, F., Newburger, J., Radebe, D., & Rayne, R., (2004). Living in limbo: Survey of homeless households living in temporary accommodation . London: Shelter.

Neale, J., & Brown, C. (2016). ‘We are always in some form of contact’: Friendships among homeless drug and alcohol users living in hostels. Health Social Care Community , 24 , 557–566. https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.12215

ONS (2019). Comparing affordable housing in the UK: April 2008 to March 2018 . [Online]. Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/housing/articles/comparingaffordablehousingintheuk/april2008tomarch2018/pdf . Accessed 18/12/2021. Accessed 18/12/2021.

ONS (2020). Deaths of homeless people in England and Wales. Dataset London: Office for National Statistics. Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaaths/datasets/deathsofhomelesspeopleinenglandandwales . Accessed: 06/07/2021.

Padgett, D., Henwood, B. F., & Tsemberis, S. J. (2016). Housing First: Ending homelessness, transforming Systems, and changing lives . New York, NY: Oxford University Press.).

Pleace, N., & Herman, K. (2020). The case for ending separate enumeration of ‘Hidden homelessness’. European Journal of Homelessness , 14 (3), 35–62.

Šimon, M., Vašát, P., Daňková, H. Gibas, P., & Poláková, M. (2020). Mobilities and commons unseen: Spatial mobility in homeless people explored through the analysis of GPS tracking data. GeoJournal , 85 , 1411–1427. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-019-10030-412

Sissons, P., & Houston, D. (2019). Changes in transitions from private renting to homeownership in the context of rapidly rising house prices. Housing Studies , 34 (1), 49–65. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673037.2018.1432754 .

Tsemberis, S., Gulcur, L., & Nakae, M. (2004). Housing First, Consumer Choice, and Harm Reduction for Homeless Individuals with a Dual Diagnosis. American Journal of Public Health, 94 (4), 651–656 . DOI: https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.94.4.651 .

Watts, B., Littlewood, M., Blenkinsopp, J., & Jackson, F. (2018). Temporary accommodation in Scotland. A report commissioned by Social Bite on behalf of the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group . Available at: https://social-bite.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/SB_TempAccommReport_FinalReport.pdf [Accessed 20/07/2022].

Wilson, W., & Barton, C. (2022). Households in temporary accommodation (England) . Parliament Commons Library. Available at: https://thinkhouse.org.uk/site/assets/files/2602/hocl0222b.pdf [Accessed 20/07/2022].

Download references

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge all the stakeholders who participated in the study and voluntarily shared valuable insights without which our research would not have been possible.

No funding was received for conducting this study.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

Richmond Juvenile Ehwi & Gemma Burgess

Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

Kwadwo Oti-Sarpong

Department of Social Anthropology, Max Planck Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

Johannes Lenhard

Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA

Centre for Housing and Planning Research, Department of Land Economy, 19 Silver Street, Cambridge, CB3 9EP, USA

Richmond Juvenile Ehwi

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Richmond Juvenile Ehwi .

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest.

The authors have no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.

Informed Consent

In line with the University of Cambridge’s ethical requirements for Social Science research, the authors ensured that study participants understood the aim of the research and the expected outputs to be generated. They also signed an informed consent form.

Additional information

Publisher’s note.

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ .

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Ehwi, R.J., Oti-Sarpong, K., Burgess, G. et al. Modular Homes as a New Form of Accommodation to Tackle Homelessness: A Case Study From Cambridge, England. Hum Ecol 51 , 323–336 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-023-00404-1

Download citation

Accepted : 27 March 2023

Published : 12 April 2023

Issue Date : April 2023

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-023-00404-1

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Homelessness
• Modular housing
• Temporary accommodation
• Social work
• Wrap-around support services
• Qualitative research
• Find a journal
• Publish with us
• Track your research

• International edition
• Australia edition
• Europe edition

Fast-build modular homes – an answer to the UK housing crisis?

Industry in UK is still largely loss-making but there are hopes it might soon deliver significant proportion of new homes

Resembling a giant toymaker’s workshop, 16 identical wooden boxes that stand 2.6 metres tall are lined up in a row in a factory near Leeds.

Each year the factory manufactures hundreds of apartments and houses, with one to three bedrooms, which leave the premises on lorries fully kitted out. The factory is run by one of Britain’s biggest insurance and pension firms, Legal & General, and is one of the main modular housing makers in the country.

Compared with countries such as Japan and Germany, where modular housing is more established, this is a nascent industry in Britain and is still largely loss-making. But the hope is that the building of good-quality homes faster might be part of a long-term solution to Britain’s housing crisis .

Some people may still associate modular homes, made on a factory assembly line like a car, with the prefab homes of the 1950s and 1960s – accommodation that was hastily assembled after the war and built to last just 10 years. But today’s timber frame modular homes are better quality and more energy efficient.

Modular homes are in the top energy performance bracket, so could save an average household up to £800 a year on energy bills, according to the industry group Make UK Modular.

Thomas Chambers, a 38-year-old IT consultant, moved into a £250,000 three-bedroom, end of terrace, modular house at L&G’s Selby site in September. He had known nothing about modular housing but was attracted by the style, location and energy efficiency. His energy bills are about the same as they were for his previous, smaller, 1980s terrace house in Wakefield because his new home retains heat much better and has solar panels.

“I’ve been very happy living here so far. One of the things I like about the property is the high ceilings, which are I think a foot higher than a typical new-build property,” he said.

Rosie Toogood, chief executive of L&G Modular Homes, said: “When people see that’s a modular home it expunges the picture … a prefab in black and white. The more people can see those homes and live in those streets and know that those modular homes are really nice, then momentum will build and there will be more acceptance.”

However, L&G has run into problems at its Bonnington site, in Bristol, where it is building 185 modular homes, a mix of flats and houses, but has faced issues with the foundations, which has led to a 12-month delay. L&G hopes to complete the homes early next year. Some of the 30 customers who have reserved houses reportedly have been offered compensation of up to £4,000.

In Selby, at L&G’s first modular site which has got 100 homes, some modules were left exposed to the elements and developed mould on the internal plasterwork while the company awaited the arrival of roof trusses and tiles, delayed by supply chain problems. A handful of houses and the 16-home apartment block were affected, and are being stripped back completely to remove damp and mould and repaired before being handed over to buyers.

Toogood acknowledges that L&G has work to do to regain trust. “Like every other builder, we’ll have issues. We’ve just got to make sure we learn from it and make sure we don’t repeat it [the mistakes].”

In the factory, a crane is used to place the ceiling on to a house while workers fit the electrics. In the construction process two giant Italian machines cut cross-laminated timber walls with openings for doors and windows, and the small square holes for the switches.

It takes just 14 days at the L&G factory to build the two modules that make up a two-bedroom house. Dispatched on the back of lorries and bolted together on site, a house comes complete with staircases, windows, doorways, fully equipped kitchen and bathroom, and sockets, radiators and heat pump. The roof is hoisted into place, brick cladding added to the outside walls and the interiors are finished off within about 12 weeks.

L&G aims to produce 450 homes at the factory this year, but could increase this to 3,000 annually.

Another modular firm, the Goldman Sachs-backed Top Hat company, is creating its second housing site near Corby. The size of 11 football pitches, it is set to be the biggest 3D modular housing factory in western Europe. The firm plans to build 4,000 homes a year.

after newsletter promotion

“If you think about assembling a car, doing it in a factory is much more efficient than if you build it outside your garage,” said Steve Cole, director of Make UK Modular. “It’s about manufacturing process. We’re used to construction being a fairly unreformed process. A building site today looks a lot like a building site 100 years ago, whereas a car plant is entirely different.”

While the production process is a bit like playing with giant Lego blocks, at least from the viewing gallery, there is nothing to distinguish L&G’s yellow-brick-clad houses in nearby Selby from other homes in the neighbourhood. All but three of the Selby homes have been sold, with 31 offered at affordable rent or shared ownership.

The prices range from between £195,000 and £210,000 for a two-bed house to between £240,000 and £260,000 for a three-bed, the prices being similar to those for other houses in the area. L&G says the homes are EPC (energy performance certificate) A-rated and should save residents about £1,534 a year in energy bills.

L&G’s business has made slower progress than expected, though, running up cumulative losses of £176m since it was set up, in 2016, by the insurer’s outgoing chief executive, Nigel Wilson. Its parent has injected £182m into it over that period.

Several other modular housing firms are also in the red, including Top Hat, and three went bust last year, while a few are profitable, such as the Bedford-based Vision Modular Systems. Founded in 2011 by Irish businessman John Fleming , it completed a 44-storey steel-frame tower in Croydon last October, the tallest modular building in the world.

The upfront cost of setting up and running a factory is high, but Toogood hopes the L&G division will turn a profit within the next two years.

Affordable housing is one of the areas that L&G believes could benefit from the hundreds of billions of pounds of capital set to be released through the reform of so-called solvency II regulations. Through a reduction of the amount of capital that insurers like L&G must hold in light of future payouts, the industry expects about £100bn to be available for green energy and social infrastructure projects, including modular homes.

But while the changes have been sold to the government as a way to boost funding for infrastructure projects, there are no rules requiring that money be used for those projects, let alone kept in the UK. Some firms suggest that the government needs to create more investable projects, but without promised capital, there remains a chicken-and-egg conundrum.

Make UK Modular has calculated that the industry will be able to build 20,000 modular homes by 2025. This would equate to a fifth of the 100,000 annual shortfall – the government has set a target of 300,000 new homes a year by 2025. About 204,500 were built in the year to March 2022 , official figures show.

Make UK Modular says that 3,300 modular homes were built in 2022, one in 60 of every new home constructed.

Toogood said: “Five years from now, the modular industry will be a significant part of how we deliver homes in the UK.”

• Construction industry
• Housing market
• Legal and General
• Real estate
• Energy efficiency

Most viewed

Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.

Project overview, services provided.

• Manufacturing

Video Case Study

A four-week window was all that was available to add a gymnasium extension to the rear of an existing building and a further four-week window to construct a two-storey office extension, main reception and press room which was completed as the second phase.

Watch the amazing Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. story below

“We had a very short window. We were a Championship club preparing for the Premier League. We needed to be fit for purpose as quickly as possible so we could give our players the best opportunity to succeed in the Premier League.

Modulek were fantastic in terms of how they understood that process, how they understood the project and what we wanted from it. And then of course how quickly they put things up and got us in the building, so we were able to start work at a very high level”.

You can’t tell the difference between the building that was there before and the building that’s there now.  People have this idea that this concept is just a bolt on. It doesn’t feel like that at all; it feels like it’s been there for many years.

The big thing for us is the building has really helped to change things for the players. We’ve got a stronger restaurant facility; we’ve got an additional player lounge; we’ve got additional gym space. Straight away from coming back from the offseason having been a Championship club, we really do now look and feel like a Premier League club in terms of the facilities that we’ve got on board.

CONOR COADY, PLAYER 

“The speed of construction helped us massively, in terms of finishing the season and not having part of the training ground to now having the building. It will help us transition into the Premier League -especially the gym. We can do a lot more work inside on our reactivation and warm up in the gym.   

It allows us to be able to achieve so much more than we could before.

From our perspective it’s been a big part of our strong start to what is a very tough season”.

Modulek has been fantastic in terms of how they understood the project and what we wanted from it. Speed of construction helped us massively so we are able now to work in a high level.

View the full story here, related projects.

Our buildings are affordable and designed to meet your every need; allowing sport organisations of every type to achieve their sporting dreams.

AFC Bournemouth

St. George’s College

Kent Air Ambulance

Flexible solutions for any size of sports and leisure facilities

With modular construction there is less time spent on site compared to traditional building methods, making your build faster and cost-efficient. Allowing you to create something that will benefit you and your community.

Modular buildings are flexible. They can be smart. They can be casual. They can be whatever you need them to be.

Costain: Moduflex Water Harvesting

Algeco has worked with Costain on a number of successful projects in the past, each with specific requirements. Recently, Costain decided to make use of our Rainwater Harvesting technology at an isola...

Proven in practice

Here are just a few examples of how we’ve helped customers across a wide range of sectors to benefit from our services.

Algeco extend Newbridge School ready for start of new term

Newbridge School was completed as part of a turnkey solution by our offsite team ready for September 2023 pupil intake.

Algeco modular building keeps south west highways running

The Algeco team responded to the brief from Milestone Infrastructure with a rapid turnaround at quotation stage, which included detailed costings, schedule of deployment and information on Algeco ESG goals.

Algeco offsite completes new Leeds school

The growing pressure for secondary school places in south Leeds created a need for new and enlarged teaching spaces.

Algeco powers EQUANS at Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station

Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station on the River Tees in the north east of England has a capability to supply electricity to over 2 million UK homes. The plant implements statutory outages at intervals to carry out planned maintenance work, which can’t be done while the reactor is at power.

Algeco secures order for MOJ Rapid Deployment Cells

The Rapid Deployment Cells Project was initiated to create a new design that can be quickly deployed to a variety of sites to help meet the short term demands of the prison estate.

Algeco site accommodation supports London’s Super Sewer

Great progress is being made with the construction of London’s Super Sewer and new riverside spaces along the River Thames, thanks, in part, to Algeco Anti Vandal site accommodation.

Algeco supports reinstatement of Matlock flood defences

The River Derwent runs through the centre of Matlock, the county town of Derbyshire, which means, along with surface water flooding, the area presents a risk of flooding. Following a storm event in February 2022, a 20 metre section of riverside wall collapsed, which resulted in the town becoming more vulnerable to deluge.

Algeco supports reparations to Mount Snowdon pipeline works

Snowdon or Yr Wyddfa, is the highest mountain in Wales, at an elevation of 1,085 metres above sea level, and the highest point in the British Isles outside the Scottish Highlands.

Greater Gabbard Offshore Wind: Welfare and Office Buildings

The Greater Gabbard Offshore Wind Farm is a joint venture 504MW farm between SSE Renewables and RWE Renewables with 140 turbines, providing enough low-carbon renewable energy to power the equivalent of over 400,000 UK homes.

Helping to deliver one of the world's largest offshore Wind Farm

Following the successful award to Algeco of supplying an office building for Hornsea Project Two at Killingholme Power Station, Algeco has supported Balfour Beatty in delivering the onshore substation for the world’s largest offshore wind farm.

James Paget University Hospital specified Algeco modular hire solution

James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has a catchment population of around 250,000 covering Great Yarmouth and Waveney, which is expected to steadily increase over the next few years, particularly people aged over 65.

Large New Build Power Station Containex Project - Manchester

Procomm, now part of the Algeco brand secured the contract to supply and install over 300 bays of Containex modules spread over a number of buildings, for a large new power station in the Manchester area.

• Site Accommodation Hire
• Anti-Vandal Unit Hire
• Moduflex® Modular Buildings
• Containex® Cabin Hire
• Fireflex® Fire Rated Buildings
• Monobloc Portable Buildings
• Health & Safety
• Apprenticeships
• Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
• Gender Pay Gap 2020/21
• Environment, Social & Governance
• Sustainability
• Terms and Conditions
• Privacy Policy
• Cookie Policy
• Modern Slavery Act
• Tax Strategy
• Insurance Documents
• Customer Service
• Hire: 0808 108 2222
• Permanent Modular : 0808 175 8888
• Case Studies

Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer.

To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds to  upgrade your browser .

Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link.

• We're Hiring!
• Help Center

Modular Construction Innovation in the UK: The Case of Residential Buildings

The construction industry in the UK within the last decade has seen an increasing demand for housing and wider concerns over the need to improve performance. Comparatively, other UK industry such as car manufacturing has rapidly developed and modernised itself. Offsite technologies seem reluctant to be adopted by the construction industry. Several surveys have been carried out to examine the limitations and explore remedial actions however, house builders are uncertain in their views, hence are reluctant to embrace this innovation in helping to meet the current demand for new homes. This study has been carried out to understand the benefits and barriers of modular construction and the level of satisfaction with the modular construction over the traditional construction. The investigation was carried out through using 3 case studies, within which a combination interviews, questionnaires, site observation and document review were used for data collection. The results suggested that in...

Related Papers

Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology

Igor Martek

Sabina Maslova

Rohana Mahbub

Asian Journal of Environment-Behaviour Studies

Prefabrication and offsite construction promotes sustainability in the construction environment and industry that is essential to protect ecosystems, improves air quality, reduces waste, conserves natural resources and improves water quality. This paper discusses a study on adopting modular construction through Industrialised Building System (IBS) approach in the Malaysian construction industry. The sustainability principles in offsite construction and IBS have always maintained a balance between environment and construction, improve human self-respect and encourage economic development. Keywords: Modular Construction; Industrialised Building System (IBS); Malaysian Construction Industry; Sustainability. eISSN 2514-751X © 2018. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association o...

Thishan Jayasinghe

Prefabricated volumetric modular building construction is an emerging technology in many countries used to develop the construction industry through its value-added benefits. The adoption of these novel technologies in the Sri Lankan construction industry has been relatively slow compared with other developing countries, delaying the development of the construction industry and the attainment of the added benefits of these technologies. Therefore, this study aims to identify the suitability of modular construction for the Sri Lankan construction industry via a survey and case study. A questionnaire survey was developed and distributed to assess and identify the benefits of implementing the concepts and constraints in Sri Lanka. Then, the construction cost of a proposed single-story house delivered through conventional and modular practices was compared. The survey results showed that introducing a modular concept to the industry is suitable and would benefit the Sri Lankan construct...

Alistair Gibb

Karthik Subramanya

Modular construction is classified as off-site prefabrication and modern method of construction and used in developed countries such as US, UK, Japan, European countries and Australia due to its benefits. Modular construction is also known as volumetric construction, modular building system or modular system. Modular construction was developed since the 1940’s, during the World War 2 as a solution for the soldier’s accommodation and after World War 2 due to the increase in housing demand in the US. Modular construction is a construction method to construct a building using threedimensional or modular units, which are assembled and produced in a factory. The three-dimensional units used for modular construction includes the logistic and assembly aspect of it, done in proper coordination through planning and integration. The research aims to investigate the definition, history, benefits, application and characteristics of modular construction and the adoption of modular construction i...

Environment-Behaviour Proceedings Journal

Faridah Halil

The enhancement of quality and to promote sustainability in the construction or built environment can be achieved through the adoption of offsite manufacturing (OSM). The adoption OSM through modular construction is already being adopted all over the world but to be considered as new technology and innovation in Malaysia. This paper will discuss the development of a framework for modular construction that embraced the Malaysian IBS approach. The framework is developed from the existing framework, literature review and the findings of the case studies. The established framework hopes to increase the understanding and awareness of modular construction in Malaysia.Keywords: Industrialised Building System (IBS); modular construction; Industrialised Building System Modular System (IBSMS); offsite manufacturing (OSM)ISSN: 2398-4287© 2017. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://...

Sustainability

Patricia Tzortzopoulos

RELATED PAPERS

Karina Julieth Rodriguez Suarez

Computational Geosciences

Jorge Yamamoto

The American journal of clinical nutrition

Maret Traber

Elli Heikkilä

Muhammad Munir Butt

Geografia: Malaysian journal of society and space

JUNAIDI BESAR

Annals of Silvicultural Research

Achille Giorcelli

Maikel Peppelenbosch

Bangladesh Journal of Medical Education

Md Golam Rabbi

Digestive Diseases and Sciences

Peter Funch-jensen

Tekstur (Jurnal Arsitektur)

Nadya Fatma Dewi

Chemical Engineering Science

Victor David Castaño Sanchez

Revista Venezolana De Economia Y Ciencias Sociales

Patricia Kaiser

franck ducreux

Wiebke Heise

Galáxia (São Paulo)

Emilio Soares Ribeiro

DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals - DOAJ

fouzi IMESSAOUDENE

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Jeremy Lant

Emerging Infectious Diseases

Louis Loutan

Chemical Communications

Jesús Ramírez

DergiPark (Istanbul University)

Zeki Mete Aksan

matthew sadof

American Journal of Pathology

Athanassios Kotsinas

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Pierre Leblanc

Frontiers in Immunology

Zsolt Radak

See More Documents Like This

RELATED TOPICS

•   We're Hiring!
•   Help Center
• Find new research papers in:
• Health Sciences
• Earth Sciences
• Cognitive Science
• Mathematics
• Computer Science
• Academia ©2024

Your browser is not supported

Sorry but it looks as if your browser is out of date. To get the best experience using our site we recommend that you upgrade or switch browsers.

Find a solution

Welcome to building.co.uk. This site uses cookies. Read our policy .

• Skip to main content
• Skip to navigation

• Back to parent navigation item
• Contact details
• Our history: 180 years of Building
• Digital editions
• Digital supplements
• Subscriptions
• Buy or renew a subscription
• Subscriber queries

Building Awards

• Race to net zero
• Building Talks podcast
• RICS in crisis
• Crossrail latest
• Building safety
• Materials shortages
• Every Person Counts
• How to save the world
• Proud to Help
• Consultants
• Contractors
• Cities & regeneration
• Education & healthcare
• Infrastructure
• Sponsored content
• Election Focus
• Buildings, Design and Specification
• Construction Business: Strategy, Risk and Regulations
• Digital Construction
• International
• Net zero and energy
• Social Value
• Take the latest modules
• Search for jobs
• Careers features
• Salary Surveys
• Building the Future
• Building the Future Conference
• Building the Future Commission
• Market data
• League tables
• Market forecast
• Cost models
• Infrastructure costs
• International costs
• Roundtables
• CRASH charity
• Building Boardroom
• Building Boardroom Digital Construction Academy

A festival focused on the future of digital construction

2024 events calendar

• More from navigation items

Why are we struggling to make modular work?

By Tom Lowe 2022-08-02T06:00:00+01:00

• No comments

It should be a no-brainer. If modular construction can save so much carbon, then surely, one way or another, it needs to succeed? But this year has seen a succession of firms go to the wall and doubts persist among many more traditional builders. Tom Lowe looks at the issues involved and talks to those who are determined to see it succeed 

College Road, Tide’s 50-storey modular development in Croydon

A couple of months ago, a study by two academics found that using modular construction could cut carbon emissions by as much as 45% compared with traditional building methods. Modular builder Tide Construction had asked researchers at Cambridge University and Edinburgh Napier University to look into two of the firm’s factory-produced housing schemes. They found that using modular to build 900 homes had saved a combined 28,000 tonnes of carbon.

The report caused a small sensation within the construction world after it was shared widely across social media by professionals citing it as a potential Eureka moment for the industry’s carbon problem. It came in the wake of a string of negative headlines about the financial troubles faced by firms working using modern methods of construction (MMC), such as modular. Four developers working in MMC have become stuck so far this year, with two modular firms, Caledonian Modular and House by Urban Splash, sinking into administration since March. Mid Group, a £55m turnover offsite specialist, also collapsed last month after posting losses of £2.5m in its latest accounts.

The rate of failures is starting to look like the industry is witnessing the end of modular as a viable concept, but the report pointed to an obvious conclusion: if modular can save so much carbon, surely, one way or another, it needs to succeed? Tide Construction chief executive Christy Hayes certainly believes so. 

We feel we have a credible solution to the housing crisis and the climate crisis … We feel we’re on the cusp of making this method of construction mainstream Tide Construction chief executive Christy Hayes

“We feel we have a credible solution to the housing crisis and the climate crisis,” he says. And he is bullish when asked about troubles faced elsewhere in the modular sector, describing Tide’s pipeline as “sizable”.

But modular’s failure to take off despite the huge amount of hype around MMC over the past ten years cannot be ignored. The sector faces a number of challenges, including the difficulty in ensuring its construction methods comply with building regulations, and huge input costs which can only be recouped by constant demand in a notoriously choppy market. The latter is one of the reasons why housebuilder Countryside announced last month that it was closing its brand new £20m modular factory in Leicestershire to reduce losses.

Tide Construction chief executive Christy Hayes

Building sat down with Hayes in the firm’s site office in Croydon, where it is building a 50-storey tower which will become the world’s tallest residential modular development when complete. Known as College Road, it neighbours the current record-holder – another Tide scheme called Ten Degrees – and will surpass it by six storeys.

HTA Design is the architect behind both schemes, which tower over central Croydon. Another huge scheme, a 48-storey student accommodation tower housing more than 1,000 student rooms on Marsh Wall on the Isle of Dogs, east London, received planning permission in May.

The firm uses a type of MMC called volumetric modular construction (VMC), which involves individual modules being precision-engineered on a factory production line. Each module is fully fitted out before being transported to site on the back of a lorry, where they are lifted into position before being installed with electrics, plumbing and given a final coat of paint.

“This is where we make big [carbon] savings,” Hayes says. Traditional construction would normally result in many more individual deliveries, along with the waste that comes with vertical distribution of fit-out materials by workers inside the building and the damage and pilferage which inevitably occurs. College Road will contain 1,725 individual modules, providing more than 900 homes.

Tide says it has built more than 7,000,000ft 2 of modular developments in recent years, and is about to start on site with over £500m of new projects. The firm posted a turnover of £167m in its latest accounts to 31 August, 2021, with a pre-tax profit of £11m. Its sister company, Vision Modular Systems (VMS), which produces the units which make up Tide’s schemes, posted a turnover of £64m and pre-tax profit of £7m in the year to 30 November, 2020. These numbers demonstrate that it is possible for a modular manufacturer to turn a profit in construction.

Momentum building

Speaking to Hayes, it is clear that he feels a sense of momentum building at Tide and VMS. “We feel we’re on the cusp of making this method of construction mainstream”, he says.

The firm is now looking for ways to scale up faster and further, something which could be made easier by associating modular with the wider green agenda in the public consciousness. Already clients are advertising Tide-built housing schemes as greener than traditionally built buildings, Hayes says.

Another route is greater government support. The £12bn affordable homes programme currently requires 25% of all homes built through the scheme to use MMC; Hayes wants this to be 40%. He also wants ministers to introduce a fast-track planning system for modular developments to get spades in the ground sooner than traditionally designed schemes, and for stamp duty to be reduced on modular housing.

Hayes says that Tide is engaging with the  government and has had a number of officials visit its sites – including from overseas. Representatives from the government in Hong Kong visited Ten Degrees during construction.

The case for modular for any government which is serious about getting to net zero is a no-brainer, says Hayes. He reels off statistics without checking his notes, clearly animated by the findings of the academic study.

Tide’s model produces buildings which require 80% fewer truck movements, he says, and can be completed in half the time of traditional schemes. The onsite workforce can be almost a fifth of normal sites – the workforce at College Road will max out at just over 100, compared with around 500 for a traditional scheme of similar size. Utility bills and running costs of the firm’s buildings once occupied are also between 20% and 25% cheaper because of how the units are manufactured. 

Solving the skills crisis

VMC also offers solutions to construction’s skills crisis, the Tide team says. Their schemes need fewer staff on site because much of the work is done in factories, a more “pleasing environment” which attracts a younger and more gender-balanced workforce. And the prospect of a regular nine-to-five job in a fixed location is also a factor, according to Hayes. “We have a very settled workforce,”, he says.

For a typical construction job, he says “you would probably have to get up at five o’clock in the morning, hop on a train, drive to the train station, hop on a train to here, then your materials don’t show up – as opposed to working in a controlled environment”

Around half of the workers at the firm’s two factories in Bedford and south Wales also cycle to work, as they can leave their tools and materials at the factory. “We have a huge skills crisis here and we’re not saying we’re immune to it, but we’re certainly helping to attract construction skills back into the industry,” says Hayes.

The close relationship between Tide and VMS, and their collaboration with HTA Design, an architect with extensive experience in modular, is key to the success of projects. The model sets Tide apart from other project teams working in modular, where there has often been a disconnect between the contractor and the manufacturer of modular units.

Industry caution

The question is, can Tide’s model be replicated elsewhere in the industry? Tide is helped by the fact it enjoys a good relationship with investors and has a solid pipeline of work. A large proportion of its work is student accommodation and build to rent projects which feature repetitive layouts particularly suited to modular construction. The time saved using modular by these types of development reap dividends for investors unlike private housebuilders which do not want to flood developments with new homes too quickly as this could depress prices.

Manufacturing facilities require a substantial investment of time and money to set up and need a constant throughput of work to provide a return on that investment. The stop start nature of construction is not conducive to keeping a factory running at capacity all the time.

Another block is craned into position at College Road, Croydon

This has been the primary challenge for others attempting to break into this market. Laing O’Rourke made huge losses in the years after it set up its offsite factory in the Midlands, while Legal & General’s modular housing business has posted five consecutive losses in its annual accounts since 2016 – totalling £137m. Following these well-publicised setbacks, it is not surprising that firms have been wary about investing in modular factories.

Another factor is the general industry caution over embracing new methods of construction. Mark Farmer, the government’s MMC champion, believes this is largely due to developers who are concerned about whether they can get their building funded and insured. It could also partly be due to firms preferring to play it safe following the Grenfell fire.

But Farmer says the fire has actually exposed the weaknesses of traditional construction. “Site labour-intensive approaches, which lead to mistakes on site where workers are left unsupervised and self-certified, has led to many of the issues that have led to Grenfell,” he says.

MMC, he adds, is providing a way to overcome these issues. This especially applies to ensuring that initial designs translate to what actually gets built, which is easier on modular schemes where units are manufactured in a factory.

Hayes says Tide’s projects are fully fundable, mortgageable and insurable – and mentions that fact several times during the interview. Making sure the firm’s methods are fully accredited has taken years of research, development and testing.

No role for timber 

Perhaps this is why Hayes firmly rules out using timber in Tide’s developments, despite the huge carbon savings that it could achieve by replacing concrete and steel – on top of the 45% carbon reduction already reached by using VMC. “Tide have spent a lot of money on large-scale fire testing to prove the robustness of their system,” Farmer says. Much of that has been done without official guidance, and has been agreed directly with the fire brigade.

“It’s too difficult,” Farmer says. “All of the manufacturers are having to do that as one-offs rather than there being a system, setting out what you have to do to prove that your system is properly accredited.”

Farmer has been working with government officials for several years on an industry standard which will govern the ways MMC systems are accredited, and says it could be operational within around 18 months. “The key thing we need to do is to build confidence that, when you have a system by Tide, and it’s being used, that level of complexity that they are using it… it shouldn’t be treated any differently to traditional construction.

“It’s a perception issue, rather than a reality issue.”

The opposing view 

Others have a different view. Mike Leonard, chief executive of the Building Alliance, a trade body which champions traditional construction, said that modular construction has struggled because it is seen to be more expensive than building conventionally. He says modular firms often ask for upfront payments from clients to cover their input costs – an unappetising prospect for developers who prefer to be flexible in order to deal with the ebb and flow of the housing market. 

”It’s rather like deciding to have a new plasma television and being asked to pay for it a year in advance so they can make it for you,” Leonard says. ”You probably wouldn’t do that. That’s essentially the proposition they are putting on the table.”

Leonard adds that the government’s “unfair market interference” in supporting the sector through the affordable homes programme is “frankly the only reason” modular is being used, as developers need to include MMC in their programmes to ensure Homes England funding.

Does the government tell car manufacturers how to build cars? They don’t – they leave that to the market and the industry to produce the right solutions Mike Leonard, chief executive of the Building Alliance

Leonard says public money would be better spent on supporting the decarbonisation of traditional construction and low level housing, which is less reliant on carbon-intensive steel imported from China. “We all want to move to decarbonise our sectors. I would suggest to government that their money would be better invested in helping industries that do work and do not need financial subsidies generally to work, to make that transition to a decarbonised built environment,” he says. 

“Does the government tell car manufacturers how to build cars? They don’t – they leave that to the market and the industry to produce the right solutions. And that’s fair, and that’s good governance.”

The form the industry standard mentioned by Farmer will take is yet to be determined, but it could include amending building regulations to refer to the new standard. Accelerating approval for innovative systems so they can come forward to the market would make a big contribution to overcoming concerns about MMC, Farmer says. “It’s all about education. It’s all about awareness building, it’s all about confidence building.”

Inside one of Countryside’s MMC factories. The firm made a £6.1m loss for its modular business in the six months to 31 March 

The new standard could be joined by another, potentially much more significant regulatory change. Plans to amend regulations to include carbon limits at design stage were reintroduced to parliament last month, after being shelved earlier this year.

The Embodied Carbon (Buildings) Bill would require firms to report on carbon emitted during the construction of a project. It is not yet clear if the government will support the bill, but it could have a huge impact on the industry and put rocket boosters beneath the modular sector.

“It will force traditional builders, it will force designers, it will force MMC manufacturers to think about their materials, to think about their efficiency, and to reduce their whole-life carbon footprint,” Farmer says.

The bill proposes phasing in the changes from 1 January next year for non-residential buildings and from 2025 for residential buildings. But, in all likelihood, these dates will be pushed back.

Embodied carbon in construction emits more than the UK aviation and shipping sectors combined. It will be impossible for the government to get anywhere near its net zero targets without addressing this with interventions – and quickly. For traditional construction, the Embodied Carbon Bill could force a much faster rate of decarbonisation. For the modular sector, it could be a lifeline.

High-profile MMC difficulties

Swan , seen as a pioneer in modular development in the housing association sector, was found to be non-compliant with regulatory standards by the Regulator of Social Housing after losing control of development costs last December. Essex-based Swan, which only manages 11,000 homes, had previously said it has a secured pipeline of 8,000 homes. It was targeting 1,000 modular homes a year through its factory in Basildon which produces volumetric modular housing using cross-laminated timber and had planned a second facility to manufacture light gauge steel modular housing.

Caledonian Modular collapsed in March. The business branded itself as the “UK’s leading offsite building solution provider” and worked as principal contractor/lead designer, or as a specialist subcontractor delivering more bespoke products across a variety of sectors in addition to residential, including the hotel, education and defence sectors. The following month Caledonian, which reported a £2.8m loss in the year to March 2020, was snapped up by concrete frame specialist contractor JRL. 

In April Countryside said it was “reviewing all options” for its new MMC factories after reporting excess manufacturing capacity had led to a £6.1m loss for its modular business in the six months to 31 March. This was one of one of several factors, along with losses in regional businesses, behind a profit warning which led to the departure of chief executive Iain McPherson this year. In July, chair John Martin resigned and, the following week, despite the firm having stressed that it remains committed to MMC, it announced it was closing its new £20m modular factory.

House by Urban Splash , a joint venture 48% owned by shareholders of developer Urban Splash, 48% by Japanese housebuilder and 4% by Homes England, went into administration in May with debts of more than £20m. Administrator Teneo said the collapse was caused by the under-use of its modular factory, along with design defects in the homes it produced, which led to customers losing confidence in the firm.

The most recent high-profile difficulty was the collapse of offsite contractor Mid Group late last month, with all 37 staff at the £55m-turnover firm losing their jobs. The contractor, which was founded in 2014, had described itself as one of the UK’s “fastest growing construction companies”, but posted a pre-tax loss of £2.5m for the 2020 financial year.

• carbon emissions
• modular construction
• Whole life carbon

Marketplace Recommendations

Related articles

Two in race for £150m Old Street roundabout tower

2024-03-25T12:35:00Z By Dave Rogers

Office scheme will be built on former site of telecoms firm’s HQ

Developer targets 2026 start on 99 Bishopsgate tower rebuild

2024-03-22T07:01:00Z By Tom Lowe

Demolition of existing 1970s building to take two years before main contractor is appointed by 2028

Retrofit 24 launches at the Building Centre in London

2024-03-22T05:00:00Z

The exhibition and series of talks aim to demonstrate how energy efficiency can be improved across all sectors through case studies of project successes

No comments yet

Only registered users can comment on this article., more from features.

‘I was shouting all sorts…’ Aecom’s Jo Streeten on working at the BBC, the Davis Langdon deal and dealing with egg attacks

2024-03-25T06:00:00Z By Dave Rogers

The firm’s boss of building and places talks to Dave Rogers about that scheme, that takeover and why the industry needs certainty to thrive

School buildings crisis: What can the next government do to save our schools and colleges?

2024-03-15T06:00:00Z By Joey Gardiner

Public capital spending on education was less last year than at any time since Labour’s Building Schools for the Future programme got up to speed 17 years ago. As part of Building’s election focus, Joey Gardiner asks what can be done to stop our schools falling further into disrepair

What the Future Homes Standard means for net zero

2024-01-23T07:00:00Z By Thomas Lane

Proposed 2025 energy regulations focus on PV and services rather than building fabric to reduce emissions. Will this be enough to help meet the UK’s 2050 target? 

• Previous issues
• A - Z Subjects
• A - Z Contributors
• Building Product Search
• © Building 2023
• Terms and Conditions
• Cookie Policy
• Privacy Policy
• Contact Building

Site powered by Webvision Cloud