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Are there any prefabs left in sheffield?

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There wer prefabs at Handsworth near Athelstan school when I was a child. Lots of my friends lived in and they made nice homes. Agree they would be an answer to housing shortage. Surely much cheaper and quicker than building a house

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There wer prefabs at Handsworth near Athelstan school when I was a child. Lots of my friends lived in and they made nice homes. Agree they would be an answer to housing shortage. Surely much cheaper and quicker than building a house

 

I have no experience in this at all but just thinking would they even be that much cheaper than a house? You still to buy the land, been connected to the services, water & drainage.

 

Plus just thought, surely they'd be less economical, cost more to heat and maintain etc.

Edited by Danny_Boy

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I have no experience in this at all but just thinking would they even be that much cheaper than a house? You still to buy the land, been connected to the services, water & drainage.

 

Plus just thought, surely they'd be less economical, cost more to heat and maintain etc.

 

I don't really know - But I think these days they could be well insulated and warm. Council ought to put some up and rent them cheap to those in dire need.Better than some of the substandard flats they put desparate people in

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Driving on the M18 I see large prefabricated buildings on the backs of lorries heading out from Humberside.

 

 

That'll be the static caravans / holiday homes made by Willerby.

 

http://www.willerby.com/

 

A lot of them are exported - I've stayed in one in France.

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Loads of pre fabs still on Norfolk Park. Vic Hallams.

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Although I'm Sheffield born and bred, I've lived and worked in inner London since 1979, so I accept that I may have made a bit of a sweeping statement when I said that "only the highest paid" can afford to buy or private rent.

 

I guess I'm a bit swayed by London property prices. The area I live in - near Peckham, in southeast London - is by no means posh, nor even particularly attractive, yet you'd need to spend £250-300k to buy a 1 bedroom flat...even in the shabbiest of purpose built blocks. A modest 2 bedroom terraced house is going to be £400-450K plus... and for a 3 bedroom family home, you're not going to get any change out of a about £500K.... i.e - half a million bloody quid!

 

Private renting a 1 bedroom flat would cost about £350-£400 a week... and even a "bedsit" type room in a shared flat or house would cost at least £200-250 a week. How can anyone in low-waged or minimum waged jobs afford these kinds of mortgages or rents??

 

I accept that property prices and rents are very much lower in my home town of Sheffield, but I still think that, even in Sheffield, it would be very difficult for a single person on minimum wage to be able to save enough for a deposit, to be able to get a mortgage or to be able to afford to "private rent".

 

Thanks for all the replies everyone.

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Although I'm Sheffield born and bred, I've lived and worked in inner London since 1979, so I accept that I may have made a bit of a sweeping statement when I said that "only the highest paid" can afford to buy or private rent.

 

I guess I'm a bit swayed by London property prices. The area I live in - near Peckham, in southeast London - is by no means posh, nor even particularly attractive, yet you'd need to spend £250-300k to buy a 1 bedroom flat...even in the shabbiest of purpose built blocks. A modest 2 bedroom terraced house is going to be £400-450K plus... and for a 3 bedroom family home, you're not going to get any change out of a about £500K.... i.e - half a million bloody quid!

 

Private renting a 1 bedroom flat would cost about £350-£400 a week... and even a "bedsit" type room in a shared flat or house would cost at least £200-250 a week. How can anyone in low-waged or minimum waged jobs afford these kinds of mortgages or rents??

 

I accept that property prices and rents are very much lower in my home town of Sheffield, but I still think that, even in Sheffield, it would be very difficult for a single person on minimum wage to be able to save enough for a deposit, to be able to get a mortgage or to be able to afford to "private rent".

 

Thanks for all the replies everyone.

 

Yes it's a different world down there, I've done mortgages for clients over £1m on appartments. £850k for a 3 bed terraced in a reasonable area. It's ridiculous, but up here you can certainly buy or private rent even on relatively low income.

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That'll be the static caravans / holiday homes made by Willerby.

 

http://www.willerby.com/

 

A lot of them are exported - I've stayed in one in France.

 

THey aren't cheap http://www.willerby.com/fullpricelist-lodge.php

 

However, if a council were to order 500 to their specification I'm sure the price would be a lot less. My brother's mother-in-law lives in a static caravan on a park in Sussex and it seems very pleasant. Not everyone's preference I know, but the prefabs have lasted well for 70 years when well maintained and renovated. Better places to live than some folks on waiting lists are having to occupy.

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There are a couple of post 2nd World War Prefab Houses round the corner from where I live in South East London. They've been granted "Listed Building" status and are still occupied by the descendents of the people who were originally housed there when they were built in the 1940's. These lovely little houses are still going strong and have nice little gardens back and front.

It made me wonder if there are any still left in Sheffield.

 

There were loads of Prefabs when I was growing up in Sheff in the

1960's. My dad had quite a few friends who lived in the Prefabs on the hillside at the top of Herries Road and I used to love being taken to visit. It felt like being in a holiday chalet and always felt really cosy and comfy. All my dad's mates' families were devastated when they were demolished and they had to be re-housed into "normal" Council houses and flats.

 

Prefabs were really decent, functional little homes and in our country's current housing crisis - with huge waiting lists for social housing and all but the highest-paid being unable to afford to buy or private-rent a home of their own - I think it would be a great idea if the Government would start an initiative to build lots similar Prefab-style housing on brownfield sites. They are cheap to manufacture, easy to transport and quick to erect. Seems like the ideal solution to me!

 

Are those the ones on Lordship lane?

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The prefabs near me are in Ivydale Road, about 5 minutes walk up the road from Nunhead rail station.

 

I'm interested to hear from robthesweep[/b] that there are some in Lordship Lane...only a mile or so down the road. I can't say I've ever noticed them and I go into Lordship Lane quite regularly, although admittedly usually only around the bottom end of Lordship Lane -where the pubs, shops, Northcross Road Market and all the various cafes and restaurants are located.

 

Seems that there are a lot more prefabs still around that I thought there would be and I still think that this kind of prefabricated/system built housing would help ease the housing crisis. Although costly, it'd still be cheaper than building conventional houses or blocks of flats - and if built from the correct robust materials and properly insulated, they'd probably be no more costly to heat and run than a normal flat or house of a similar size.

I know that acquiring the land would cost money, but many cities, even densely populated ones, still have large swathes of derelict brownfield land, vast overgrown wasteland, fenced off with high fences and which has just been left empty, unused and untouched for decades. It's a scandalous waste.

 

My solution? Well - I think the Government should fund local authorities to compulsorarily purchase some of this currently wasted land and build prefab type houses on it - some of them for much needed Social Housing and some as more affordable housing that will allow people who are not eligible for Social Housing to be able to buy or private-rent a home of their own. I also think the Government could fund and open a few factories to manufacture the housing components, thereby creating some much needed jobs too. And, of course, if you build housing in areas that were previously wasteland, you're going to need transport links, supermarkets, local shops, pubs, cafes, restaurants etc - more jobs, more money coming into these previously dead areas. Sounds like a win-win situation all round to me.

(Crikey - I should be Prime Minister really, shouldn't I?)

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Loads of pre fabs still on Norfolk Park. Vic Hallams.

 

My memory of Vic Hallam houses is timber frame buildings, constructed on site, not pre-fabbed.

 

I might be wrong, I grew up near the pre-fabs on Wensley Street.

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My memory of Vic Hallam houses is timber frame buildings, constructed on site, not pre-fabbed.

 

I might be wrong, I grew up near the pre-fabs on Wensley Street.

 

the Vic Hallam and the Finnegan houses that have recently been demolished were classed as Prefabricated in design.

 

the Finnegans on Arbourthorne (Im not sure about the Vic Hallam) were built on a concrete raft, as the land was supposedly too wet to build on, so I am very suprised to see the new build that have just gone up as being standard construction.

 

I asked for adaprations to my previous Finnegan property and the council refused on the grounds that it was a prefab.

I argued the toss with them, and said

"But you did exactly the same adaptations I need for Mrs bs next door but one on the terrace"

"Ah but YOURS is a prefab so we can't do the adaptions!"

But my hous is identical to Mrs B's... I am on the same terrace of houses as she is, my house is identical!"

But we cant do the adaptations for yours... It's a prefab!"

*rinse and repeat...*

So I ended up being moved to where I am now, which is adapted for my needs.

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