An Exploration of the Potential for Using Modular Housing Solutions to Address the UK’s Housing Shortage

<p>The UK construction industry is affected by a shortage of affordable housing exacerbated by a shortage of skilled labour. This paper explores opportunities to use modular homes to address the UK’s housing shortage. In developing this paper, a questionnaire-based survey was undertaken following a detailed review of relevant literature. The survey of industry professionals involved 70 structured questionnaires sent online. A lack of affordable new homes is identified in this paper as one of the most pressing issues within the sector. Again, a lack of investment in apprenticeships is identified to have led to skilled trades shortages in the industry. The survey reported in this paper found that modular homes would provide homes quicker and cheaper. Other benefits of modular housing are the use of eco-friendlier materials, waste reduction and reduced CO2 emissions from construction processes and from reduced transportation. Reduced maintenance requirements also reduced life-cycle costs in modular homes however traditional housing was seen as having longer lifespans. Due to restrictions in place at the time relating to the COVID 19 pandemic, detailed confirmatory interviews could not be conducted. Further research could investigate the costs to contractors of establishing their own manufacturing facilities. Opportunities to improve awareness of the benefits of modular homes can also be explored in future work. Future research could also explore the potential of increased integration of Value Engineering and Building Information Modelling (BIM) into modular house building and to evaluate the potential benefits they provide.</p>