Communities Secretary Sajid Javid started 2017 with a visit to Germany and the Netherlands to research European housing models and uncover how they might be used in the UK he showed particular interest in offsite construction techniques, as well as custom and self build housing.
On his visit to Potsdam, Germany, Javid looked at modern prefabricated housing, a technique that is already growing in popularity in the UK. In an interview with Sky News Javid commented: “These are made-to-measure, ready-made, ready-to-go modern stylish homes and if Germany can do it and other countries can do it I think they can be an important part of what we can deliver in UK.”
“It can really make a difference, especially in terms of speed;so whereas today you can have a plot that is available for maybe a 1,000 homes – it can take yearsand years for them to be actually homes that people are ready to move into.”
“I think if we can make that much quicker, maybe a couple of years or even less, it can make a dramatic difference.”
In addition to Potsdam, the Communities Secretary visited Almere in the Netherlands – Europe’s largest scale self and custom build city. Talking to a local news channel, he said: “It is great to be here and see for myself this project where you have got so many people with self build properties. The creativity is really exciting to see, and I think it is something that we can learn from.”
“We have a significant housing challenge in the UK and I think it makes sense to look at what other countries are doing.”
“I think having more diversity and giving people more opportunities in housing, as we see here, is a very good thing to look at.”
“In the rest of Europe we do see a lot more self build, a lot more custom build and what you call factory build and that kind of diversity is important. Having more choice in any market, including housing, is important.”
