An unpredictable economy and fluctuations in property prices has meant that some consumers are forced to consider alternative options when buying their first home, although building your own home is often cost effective, the daunting prospect of spiralling construction costs is often enough to put off any first time buyers. However there is a simple way in which building your own home can be cheaper than buying an existing one, the answer is prefabricated housing.

The buildings are prefabricated off site in advance of a build and can be built as a whole but typically in sections or modules that can easily be shipped and assembled. The process of design and construction of prefab housing is suitable for traditional designs but architects have found it lends itself to more contemporary designs that would usually be expensive with conventional construction.

Although there are procedures for building prefabricated houses, the rules and regulations are nowhere near as strict or long winded as conventional construction. This means a buyer could buy a plot of land, construct a home and move in within a couple of weeks, before the initial paperwork for a conventional building would be approved.

These types of buildings are traditionally constructed of timber, although some modern designs now include steel and concrete. Their design meant that they could be produced in factories that took in whole trees as a raw material and manufactured prefabricated modular building sections ready to assemble. These homes are historically the cheapest and have been recorded as far back as the 17th century. Buildings were shipped to America to fuel the rapid increase in population and later in the 19th century to accommodate the gold rush, they were also widely used in Britain in the WWII to temporarily replace bombed housing, although some still remain in use today.

Although prefab homes have proved to be a practical option for residential and commercial construction but there is still a stigma surrounding the industry because of the poor quality of previously constructed examples. The majority of banks and lenders do not consider most prefabricated homes sufficient collateral for a loan or mortgage, something that has prevented the expansion of the industry.

By: Tom Doerr