Dozens of low cost 'flat pack' modular homes to be built on Milton Keynes estate for homeless people

Dozens of cut-price modular homes are to be put up on Fishermead to house homeless people who are most in need.

Seventy units will be built on land between Gunnards Avenue and Pencarrow Place and each will have three rooms, including a kitchen, toilet and shower facility.

The compact little homes, also known as ‘flat pack’ or pre fab houses, will take just weeks to build and the entire site should be completed by Spring next year.

They will be used solely as temporary housing for homeless people and the site will include support facilities together with a communal laundry area.

Modular homes are built in a factory and consist of a number of modules that are transported to their final location and assembled together to form a house.

They are often more energy efficient that traditionally-built homes and work out considerably cheaper to build.

Milton Keynes City Council says the homes will provide additional local housing and support those people who are “most in need”.

A spokesman said: “Contractors are currently installing the homes on the site along with the necessary infrastructure. The first people are expected to move in from April 2023, and will stay temporarily while the City Council works to find them a more permanent solution.”

Cllr Emily Darlington, Cabinet member for Adults, Housing and Healthy Communities, said: “We’re in a national housing crisis and have been looking to introduce modular homes for some time so that we have an additional option for our local people in need.”

She added: “It’s taken a while to get to this stage, but progress will be visible very soon. Innovative schemes like these will give people the space they need as we support them to find longer-term accommodation.”

Modular homes are also in the process of being built on Tattenhoe Park estate, where Bellway Homes has a project to provide 160 new houses and apartments using the Modern Method of Construction (MMC).

Their development is part of a pilot project aimed at speeding up the delivery of new homes and Bellway was chosen by Homes England to take part.

Construction started in July and already the first homes are being sold, with prices starting at £215,000 for a one-bedroom apartment.