'Flat pack house' heading for UK

Tyneside is set to become the first area of the UK to head a housing revolution using a radical Swedish-designed concept in affordable homes.

Most of the construction is done off-site and the frames transported to building plots. The houses are designed around factory processes that enable them to be far more efficiently constructed in quality-controlled conditions than would be possible through traditional construction methods.

They are constructed using a highly insulated closed panel system with a range of cladding systems.

Under the proposals, around 90 Scandinavian-style timber-framed houses and flats are to be built close to the centre of Gateshead, to a design pioneered by Swedish construction firm Skanska in partnership with flat-pack furniture company Ikea.

Called BoKlok, the concept provides space-saving, functional homes offering good quality at a price which puts them within reach of households earning between £12,500 and £30,000 a year.

Gateshead Council bosses have labelled the scheme as the "holy grail of affordable homes".

Ikea and Skanska started BoKlok in the mid-1990s to cope with a demand for affordable properties in Sweden and to provide people with high quality properties at a low price.

The concept will now give first-time buyers and low income workers in Britain the chance to get a foot on the property ladder.

Gateshead Council has given the scheme the green light after councillors agreed to sell an area of land, subject to planning, close to Gateshead International Stadium to the UK's BoKlok partner Live Smart @ Home, a property company which is part of the Home Group, one of the UK's largest providers of affordable housing.

An application for planning permission is expected to be made next month, with work due to start on site early next year and the first flats being marketed in Ikea's Gateshead store next autumn.

Homes will be offered on a shared ownership, below market rent or outright sale basis, with legal agreements ensuring that buy-to-let will be actively discouraged.

The BoKlok flats have a flexible open-plan layout, with high ceilings and large windows which give the apartments a light, airy and contemporary feel.

Councillor David Napier, Gateshead's Cabinet member for Housing, says: "This is an exciting development and an important contribution to the debate on affordable housing.

"Providing affordable homes is the Holy Grail for local councils and housing providers - but it is still one of the most difficult to achieve.

"BoKlok offers new solutions to the problem because it concentrates much of the actual building work off-site and that substantially reduces the cost.

"These homes are cleverly designed, highly energy-efficient and they look fantastic, so I don't think there will be any shortage of potential buyers in Gateshead.

"This is a really exciting concept and a totally new type of home for the UK. I'm delighted that Gateshead will be the first where people will be able to see BoKlok."

Alan Prole, Live Smart @ Home managing director, said: "We have now reached a very important stage in the process with the land close to being acquired and a planning application about to be submitted for our proposed scheme in Gateshead.

"Using state-of-the-art construction methods, these homes will be like nothing else seen before in the UK and will play an important role in helping first-time buyers who have until now been unable to get on the property ladder due to the spiralling costs of buying a house."

The homes, designed to be energy efficient, come with a host of additional features as standard, such as extra height rooms to give a feeling of space, wooden flooring throughout, fitted kitchens and free interior design advice from Ikea, as well as an Ikea furniture voucher.