use our grey power to force real affordable, safe houses to be built whoch won't kill our planet but actually save it!!

We were within the limits dj, so no problem for us. We did have to adhere to what we were replacing both in size, and siting of the replacement dwelling.

Hasn't Kevin McCloud of Grand Designs, also designed houses to be built cheaply?

I realise how much forestry the UK has, particularly Scotland and Wales, but it's nothing like the scale of the countries I mentioned. If we started using the wood for house building it would soon disappear. We're not talking about someone ordering a house, we're talking about building housing estates. Or at least I was when we were talking about prefabs.

theres a never ending supply of wood here,and with fast growing trees replacing the originals used we shouldn't run out any time in the forseeable future .

That's the IKEA houses I was talking about. I think it might have been a pilot that I saw, so it's good to see it developed.

Apart from the fact it's hard to get a mortgage, the problem with wooden houses in the UK is wood is expensive compared to other building materials. In countries like the USA, Canada and in Scandinavia, wood is in plentiful supply, so it makes sense to use it. Also, in Scandinavia and other European countries like Germany, it's quite common for families to own woodland. The land is passed down through the generations, so several families that are part of a bigger family group all share in the care of the woodland and the wood it produces. The family make a day out of going to their piece of woodland to manage it and I like the idea of that tradition.

www.boklok.com/about-the-BoKlok-concept/

IKEA homes.

Except for selfbuild, Wilma. Then it's preferable to get a group together. Buy the site, get planning then build as a small group.
What I like about the Scottish scheme is that they are using local wood.

Germany makes prefab houses with its typical precise engineering. After Grand Designs showed a Huf Haus, I Googled Huf Haus and discovered 2 just around the corner from my friend. Much smaller than the one on the TV, the houses were very attractive. These are bespoke homes, but the principal is the same. IIRC I think IKEA dipped its toe into prefabs some years ago.

It's certainly an efficient way of building houses these days, but the problem for the UK market is it requires a small but efficient work force working. In the UK, the government relies on the construction industry to create jobs and efficiency is not a major factor.

Doesn't planning permission run out in fifty years where you live?

We live in a two bedroom log cabin, imported from Estonia six years ago. It is absolutely brilliant, triple glazing, easy to maintain, and needs very little in the way of heating, so cheap and efficient to run. We were lucky that planning had ready been given for a similar bungalow way back in the 1960's so a replacement wasn't a problem. Getting planning theses days for these types of property is virtually impossible in England, as friends have discovered, though goodness knows why!

Zedpods for the homeless 18-24 year olds, too?

www.24housing.co.uk/news/tens-of-thousands-of-18-24-year-olds-tell-councils-of-homelessness/

www.24housing.co.uk/news/council-cites-335000-saving-from-temporary-modular-homes/

The houses in Reading.
Modular homes, not prefabs.

www.24housing.co.uk/news/speculation-suggests-creation-of-secretary-of-state-for-housing/

This is actually a good idea, if it happens. No idea what the chances are.

Yes, paddyann. I thought of the Zedpods because MPs could then see for themselves what worked and what didn't in newbuild ideas. They are also zero emissions and use renewable energy, so they can't put energy bills on their claims, either.
The Zedpods are said to be rentable for £750. Sounds a lot to me, but cheap for London.

makar.co.uk/news/trees-to-timber-homes

These timber homes would be far too good for MPs second homes.

I'm jealous, BBbevan.

In the 1970s my husband designed timberframe housing for council housing. People didn't want to live in them because they weren't like normal housing. Strange how ideas change.

* paddyann* we live in a Scandi Haus . Part brick, part wood. Triple glazed and with thick insulated walls. It was shipped from Norway many years ago. Exactly the sort of house you describe. We love it

I always thought a tower block would be ideal for MP's ,they could all have their own space and there could be a restaurant and launderette and maybe a shop all on site ..and it would be state owned so NO second homes or huge expenses for furniture etc.So when one moves out another moves in....simple

How about the idea of those Zedpods built in London for all the MPs who charge lots for their second homes?
They have all they need in them for a second home, and they only cost £60,000 to build.
They can requisition the land from a landbanking builder in return for a knighthood. May as well make the knighthood be of some use.

I presume we wouldn't use asbestos in the new-style prefabs.

For some people they were the first houses they had lived in with indoor toilets. There were still some lived in in Hull in 2000. I don't know if there still are.
Some were built using parts from the aircraft factories that were no longer needed. Brilliant recycling.

However, I would rather have the Scandi-style wooden homes, well insulated. It would be better than the bungalow I am in at the moment, where my kitchen, built as a brick extension, can be ten degrees lower than the dining room. I can feel the draught through the door at the moment.

For many years now the Building Regulations Approved Dobument M has required that new homes are accessible for a visitor in a wheelchair, ie with wide enough doors, turning and manouevering space and a wc on the entrance level. They should also be adaptable for a wheelchair occupier, which for a two storey house usually means providing a space for a through the floor lift.

The increase in new three storey houses is driven by the cost of land. Using the roof space allows more useable space on the same footprint.

Planning permission can increase the value of a site tenfold or more and shortage of sites is a serious problem. Meanwhile many sites are held undeveloped as land banks, some by developers but a great deal is owned by investors speculating that the price will rise. Some of our pension funds may hold shares in these investments.

Yes, "prefabs" is off putting to some, although the ones they built up here in the north east after the war are still going strong, having been reinforced and modernised.

I think calling them prefabs gives the wrong idea to some.
Factory built sounds different.

There's a prefab initiative under way in Reading Baggs.

Read something today about prefabs being reintroduced. It was a post-war solution to a housing shortage. Perhaps it'll work again, though building regulations are probably a lot more complex now.

Scotland has also abolished Right to Buy and it is in the process of being abolished in Wales. Over 40% of RBT homes are now owned by private landlords and it's over 70% in one part of the UK (Milton Keynes). In my own area it's more than 50%. I doubt it was envisaged that RTB homes would end up being rented out at more than double the average council rent by private landlords guaranteed to be paid through housing benefit.

Yet in England the RTB scheme is being extended next year. Every RTB home is supposed to be replaced by a new affordable home. Note 'affordable' does not mean social housing. 'Affordable' means 80% of the market value. Only 1 in 10 RTB home has been replaced since the new scheme was launched in 2012.