Prefabs

[AY1975]

Following on from the thread on terraced housing at https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/terrace-housing.269427/ did anyone here ever live (or still live now) in a prefab or know someone who did? Are there many of them left, I wonder?

Until fairly recently there were some in the North-East Derbyshire towns of Eckington and Killamarsh, and many of their residents weren't happy about their demolition:

Eckington and Killamarsh prefab estate demolition begins

Demolition work begins on an estate of 1940s prefabricated houses in Derbyshire.

www.bbc.co.uk

According to a sign opposite the toilets at Birmingham Moor Street station there's a Grade II listed prefab estate in Birmingham - maybe one of the few left in the country.

I seem to recall that there were still some near London Waterloo station in the early 1990s (maybe demolished to make way for the Eurostar terminal).

There's a prefab that you can go inside at Sandtoft trolleybus museum near Doncaster.

 

[gordonthemoron]

My grandma lived next to an estate of prefabs in Wallsend 1960s-90s, they'ra all gone niow, and Chris Difford of Squeeze lived in a prefab in Greenwich in the 50s/60s

 

[D6130]

Near me, there is a small group of prefabs at Walsden, visible on the Up side of the Calder Valley line. There is also a small prefab estate in the Thame Valley between Mossley and Stalybridge, visible below the Transpennine main line on the Up side. I also seem to remember fairly recently seeing prefabs still in use somewhere in the Irwell Valley in East Lancashire - in the Ramsbottom/Rawtenstall/Bacup area - but I can't remember exactly where.

 

[WesternLancer]

Following on from the thread on terraced housing at https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/terrace-housing.269427/ did anyone here ever live (or still live now) in a prefab or know someone who did? Are there many of them left, I wonder?

Until fairly recently there were some in the North-East Derbyshire towns of Eckington and Killamarsh, and many of their residents weren't happy about their demolition:

Eckington and Killamarsh prefab estate demolition begins

Demolition work begins on an estate of 1940s prefabricated houses in Derbyshire.

www.bbc.co.uk

According to a sign opposite the toilets at Birmingham Moor Street station there's a Grade II listed prefab estate in Birmingham - maybe one of the few left in the country.

I seem to recall that there were still some near London Waterloo station in the early 1990s (maybe demolished to make way for the Eurostar terminal).

There's a prefab that you can go inside at Sandtoft trolleybus museum near Doncaster.

There are some listed in B'ham indeed (not a whole estate just a few) problem is I can't recall where they are at the time of writing (Edit - reminded by post below it was Wake Green Road I am pretty sure), I've looked them up on streetview.

There are also some listed ones left on the Excalibur Estate in south London (most of the large estate of them now demolished despite popular opposition to the plans) 6 are listed.

This site about the estate with lots of images is worth a look - many of the homes pictured will now have been demolished however.

Excalibur Estate - Beyond the Point

Following intense bombing during the Second World War, Londoners were in need of new homes – and fast. The solution adopted by the Government was a unique scheme which saw temporary homes being built in factories, sometimes by prisoners of war, to speed up the construction process. 1,500 homes...

beyondthepoint.co.uk

A number have been moved to museums - good to hear about the one at Sandtoft

As many are / were council homes they were very difficult to improve in order to meet the last Labour Government's 'Decent Homes Standard' - this was the trigger for many of them to get demolished
sadly.

This page is good as it outlines the main types of prefabs that were produced and used in the UK at the end of the war

A Brief History of Prefabs

Over 200,000 homes in Britain were destroyed by bombs during the Second World War. One solution to the housing crisis was to build temporary, prefabricated houses, known as 'prefabs'.

heritagecalling.com

 

[gg1]

According to a sign opposite the toilets at Birmingham Moor Street station there's a Grade II listed prefab estate in Birmingham - maybe one of the few left in the country.

There is Austin Village consisting of around 200 wooden prefab bungalows built at the end of WW1 for Longbridge workers and their families, most of them are still there and occupied. It's a conservation area but pretty sure it's not listed.

I have been inside one of them, nice little houses with the main downside being it's not possible to obtain a mortgage due to the non standard construction. As a result most of them are occupied by older people who have downsized and paid cash.

 

[CharlieSpotted]

There are some in Wolverhampton, but not for much longer, by all accounts:

Prefab residents relishing ‘fresh start’ in new energy-efficient Council homes​

​

Wolverhampton residents are relishing a ‘fresh start’ after discovering their crumbling 1946 prefabs are to be replaced by brand new energy efficient homes.
City of Wolverhampton Council has launched a multi-million pound regeneration programme to replace its out-dated housing stock with better homes.

...

But the Tarrans have now been declared defective under the 1985 Housing Act - and suffer from a number of issues including failing structural elements, leaking and poorly insulated roofs, very poor thermal efficiency, and wet rot in the floor.

Prefab residents relishing ‘fresh start’ in new energy-efficient Council homes | City Of Wolverhampton Council

Wolverhampton residents are relishing a ‘fresh start’ after discovering their crumbling 1946 prefabs are to be replaced by brand new energy efficient homes.

www.wolverhampton.gov.uk

 

[GusB]

This video cropped up in my YouTube feed a few weeks ago. It may be of interest:

The description mentions a row of prefabs being refurbished in Birmingham, on Wake Green Road.

Locally, there were a few prefabs. One was lived in by the local health visitor/district nurse, but she moved out when she retired - I'm guessing it may have been tied accommodation. Sadly, the site has been cleared and two houses built on the plot since. There were another two in the neighbouring village, but again they've been flattened in favour of newer builds. I think there's still one left, a couple of streets away.

 

[WesternLancer]

This video cropped up in my YouTube feed a few weeks ago. It may be of interest:

The description mentions a row of prefabs being refurbished in Birmingham, on Wake Green Road.

Locally, there were a few prefabs. One was lived in by the local health visitor/district nurse, but she moved out when she retired - I'm guessing it may have been tied accommodation. Sadly, the site has been cleared and two houses built on the plot since. There were another two in the neighbouring village, but again they've been flattened in favour of newer builds. I think there's still one left, a couple of streets away.

Nice one Gus - it was Wake Green Rd in Brum I was thinking of ref the listed ones there that I had heard of. Thanks for reminding me of the street name.

 

[DarloRich]

The Prefab was a quick and cheap post WW2 way of addressing the housing crisis caused by bomb damage and peopel coming home from the forces and the population boom that caused . They were supposed to last for c10 years. Many are still occupied today! There were several styles ( one/two stories and construction materials) but many peopel think of the bungalow type when referring to a prefab.

A friend of a friend lives in a post war timber or "Swedish" house that dates from this period. Getting a mortgage was harder than a "normal" house but obtainable after specialist survey reports were delivered and the status/condition of the structural timbers investigated. Repairs tend to need a carpenter rather than a brickie!

Beamish have taken a couple of Airey Houses ( 2 story concrete frame prefabs) for future re construction on thier 1950's town.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-17936776

A block of houses built to re-home people after World War II is to be saved from demolition by moving to a new home at a museum.

Airey houses were prefabricated homes constructed in great numbers at the end of the war as a temporary replacement for homes destroyed by bombs.

Designed by Sir Edwin Airey, they were intended as a temporary measure, but many still remain in use.

 

[Trackman]

There are also some listed ones left on the Excalibur Estate in south London (most of the large estate of them now demolished despite popular opposition to the plans) 6 are listed.

They were in Catford, Lewisham, about 180 of them. Think they demolished a couple of years ago,
I'm not 100% sure, but I think there was a ballot with the residents to either remain there or move into a brand new houses.
Must have been an Asbestos nightmare, but I think the council played this down when decontamination cabins went up 'As a precaution'.

 

[simonw]

Following on from the thread on terraced housing at https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/terrace-housing.269427/ did anyone here ever live (or still live now) in a prefab or know someone who did? Are there many of them left, I wonder?

Until fairly recently there were some in the North-East Derbyshire towns of Eckington and Killamarsh, and many of their residents weren't happy about their demolition:

Eckington and Killamarsh prefab estate demolition begins

Demolition work begins on an estate of 1940s prefabricated houses in Derbyshire.

www.bbc.co.uk

According to a sign opposite the toilets at Birmingham Moor Street station there's a Grade II listed prefab estate in Birmingham - maybe one of the few left in the country.

I seem to recall that there were still some near London Waterloo station in the early 1990s (maybe demolished to make way for the Eurostar terminal).

There's a prefab that you can go inside at Sandtoft trolleybus museum near Doncaster.

This article, dated 2022 says there were 8000 left

A Brief History of Prefabs

Over 200,000 homes in Britain were destroyed by bombs during the Second World War. One solution to the housing crisis was to build temporary, prefabricated houses, known as 'prefabs'.

heritagecalling.com

Just noticed, it's the same article as @WesternLancer posted

 

[WesternLancer]

They were in Catford, Lewisham, about 180 of them. Think they demolished a couple of years ago,
I'm not 100% sure, but I think there was a ballot with the residents to either remain there or move into a brand new houses.
Must have been an Asbestos nightmare, but I think the council played this down when decontamination cabins went up 'As a precaution'.

Thanks - if they were council houses - which I think most would have been - the council as landlord would certainly have been required to 'consult' with residents on the estate about demolishing them - so that could well have taken the form of a ballot.

I know that some residents at least were vigorously opposed to the plans to redevelop the estate - which has been done on a much higher density so the 'tranquil oasis' that the estate was when I went to visit it a few years ago would not have been likely to survive the rebuilding.

 

[Lewisham2221]

Plenty still around in North Staffs. Many have, over the past decade, received external insulation and cladding, suggesting they aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

 

[Roger1973]

All things prefab on the prefab museum website. I think there was an intention as part of this project to preserve one of the Excalibur Estate prefabs, but it had to be demolished after a fire.

I believe this cluster in north Lincoln is still in situ, although Street View is from 2012, and it's a while since I have been past.

 

[swt_passenger]

I remember in Newcastle upon Tyne up near Four Lane Ends, a few dozen steel framed semis that dated from the post WW2 era, they were a bit of a hybrid construction, a normal brick faced ground floor, but the first floor exterior and the roof were made of steel sheeting. My father referred to them as prefabs, many are still in use but their first floors have been remodelled using traditional wall and roof materials. I remember people saying the houses couldn’t be considered for a mortgage, so they usually stayed under council control. They’re on Benton Park Road and Parkside Avenue if anyone knows the area.

(i did some Googling and found they were called BSIF homes.)

 

[WesternLancer]

I remember in Newcastle upon Tyne up near Four Lane Ends, a few dozen steel framed semis that dated from the post WW2 era, they were a bit of a hybrid construction, a normal brick faced ground floor, but the first floor exterior and the roof were made of steel sheeting. My father referred to them as prefabs, many are still in use but their first floors have been remodelled using traditional wall and roof materials. I remember people saying the houses couldn’t be considered for a mortgage, so they usually stayed under council control. They’re on Benton Park Road and Parkside Avenue if anyone knows the area.

(i did some Googling and found they were called BSIF homes.)

Yes. Thought they sounded like BISF* homes. Some not far from me and a few of them unmodernised. People call them ‘tin tops’.

There are also 2 storey versions of the Tarran Newland single storey prefab that you see in the conventional bungalow form more often. Pre cast concrete panels I think.

*British Iron and Steel Federation I think

 

[Roger1973]

There is an area of Luton that is known as Tin Town, which was largely developed with BISF houses - many have been either rebuilt or had cladding applied.

Example of some unchanged on Street View here.

 

[Rick1984]

Kilmarnock still has few.
Our council house growing up was a sort of hybrid. Tin roof. Metal strips on wall corners inside.

They also had similar to this tin tops. My brother lives in one that's been refurbished

 

[D6130]

I remember in Newcastle upon Tyne up near Four Lane Ends, a few dozen steel framed semis that dated from the post WW2 era, they were a bit of a hybrid construction, a normal brick faced ground floor, but the first floor exterior and the roof were made of steel sheeting. My father referred to them as prefabs, many are still in use but their first floors have been remodelled using traditional wall and roof materials. I remember people saying the houses couldn’t be considered for a mortgage, so they usually stayed under council control. They’re on Benton Park Road and Parkside Avenue if anyone knows the area.

There are quite a lot of those houses on the Dodd Naze estate up the hill above Hebden Bridge. Most are now in private ownership and have had various types of cladding added.

 

[alxndr]

Pre-fabs and non-traditional construction aren't quite the same thing, but they seem to be getting confused a little here. Prefabs are exactly that, pre-fabricated buildings that can be assembled on site pretty quickly, and there's not many of those left due to their short lifespan. Non-traditional construction came slightly later but were intended to last longer but require fewer traditional materials and skills that were in short supply. They've largely lasted longer, although there are the famous defective types, such as the Airey, and even the "good" ones tend to be not quite as energy efficient without additional works.

I live in a no-fines non-traditional construction house on an estate which replaced the prefabs in the 70s. A lot of the people living here previously lived in the prefabs, or had family who did.

 

[WesternLancer]

Pre-fabs and non-traditional construction aren't quite the same thing, but they seem to be getting confused a little here. Prefabs are exactly that, pre-fabricated buildings that can be assembled on site pretty quickly, and there's not many of those left due to their short lifespan. Non-traditional construction came slightly later but were intended to last longer but require fewer traditional materials and skills that were in short supply. They've largely lasted longer, although there are the famous defective types, such as the Airey, and even the "good" ones tend to be not quite as energy efficient without additional works.

I live in a no-fines non-traditional construction house on an estate which replaced the prefabs in the 70s. A lot of the people living here previously lived in the prefabs, or had family who did.

No fines! Now that’s really off topic. Lol

Good post by the way, point well made.

 

[John Webb]

Yes. Thought they sounded like BISF* homes. Some not far from me and a few of them unmodernised. People call them ‘tin tops’......


*British Iron and Steel Federation I think

Correct re BISF. I recall colleagues of mine (at the Fire Research Station) were concerned about their fire integrity/resistance as more flammable furniture appeared in the shops with modern fillings and fabrics. But structures were not an area I dealt with much.

 

[Western Lord]

Although "prefab" perhaps has negative connotations today, at the time these homes were the height of luxury for people brought up in Victorian terraces. A detached home with hot and cold running water and all mod cons with a front and back garden was something that their ancestors could only have dreamed of. Perusal of the large scale OS mapping on the NLS site shows loads of prefabs on bomb sites in East London ( by which I mean East London and not Essex). Of course they were not going to last long as they were very low density housing. I doubt that many thought that the tower blocks that often replaced them were an improvement. Not all prefab sites were redeveloped, I was surprised to find on the old OS maps that there was a site with around a hundred prefabs to the east of Barkingside on Forest Road of which no sign remains.

 

[swt_passenger]

They weren’t just put up in areas that suffered bomb damage of course, I recall a small number of single storey prefabs in Alnwick, quite near my grandparents’ house, they were just for general housing capacity. They were replaced by conventional housing in the early 1970s, so had a life of just over 25 years.

That probably fits the general view of prefab usage.

But as noted by @Western Lord it’s interesting to think of the crossover with the current thread that mentions poor quality terraced stock with outside toilets etc. My grandmother‘s house never had an inside WC, or proper hot water plumbing, only a cold tap at the kitchen sink, the nearby prefabs were much better fitted out, and they ‘came and went’ while her house stood completely still - it was in the same condition found when she moved in during the 1930s, until she moved into care in the late 1990s…

 

[alxndr]

Although "prefab" perhaps has negative connotations today, at the time these homes were the height of luxury for people brought up in Victorian terraces. A detached home with hot and cold running water and all mod cons with a front and back garden was something that their ancestors could only have dreamed of.

Indeed, this is something I often think about. A lot of the people given prefabs on the site where I live now would have come from Glasgow tenements, often “single ends” (a single room for cooking, living, and sleeping), with no indoor plumbing.

Here are an assortment of comments about the prefabs here from a local history facebook group (edited only to remove names and addresses). Aside from the cold people’s memories are generally very favourable!

“My Auntie used to live in one. She had a fridge and we used to queue for a water ice block each in summer.”

“Lived in a Prefab from about 1951 till approx 1959 when we moved. Can still remember the amount of ice on the INSIDE of the windows during a very cold winter! ❄️”

“Great houses, tho freezing in winter, because of the metal walls. We each had a garden too. They were built to house people after the war for about 10 years, they lasted till 1965. Double the time they were supposed to.”

“I was born in one. We all loved our wee house.”

“Prefabs were great, inside toilets, fridges and gardens, spoiled back then”

“Our family lived in one of the prefabs...they were indeed fab wee houses. I've got a lot of lovely memories from that time. X”

 

[WesternLancer]

Indeed, this is something I often think about. A lot of the people given prefabs on the site where I live now would have come from Glasgow tenements, often “single ends” (a single room for cooking, living, and sleeping), with no indoor plumbing.

Here are an assortment of comments about the prefabs here from a local history facebook group (edited only to remove names and addresses). Aside from the cold people’s memories are generally very favourable!

“My Auntie used to live in one. She had a fridge and we used to queue for a water ice block each in summer.”

“Lived in a Prefab from about 1951 till approx 1959 when we moved. Can still remember the amount of ice on the INSIDE of the windows during a very cold winter! ❄️”

“Great houses, tho freezing in winter, because of the metal walls. We each had a garden too. They were built to house people after the war for about 10 years, they lasted till 1965. Double the time they were supposed to.”

“I was born in one. We all loved our wee house.”

“Prefabs were great, inside toilets, fridges and gardens, spoiled back then”

“Our family lived in one of the prefabs...they were indeed fab wee houses. I've got a lot of lovely memories from that time. X”

Some great comments there.

I think one of the issues was that they did not turn out to be as cheap to construct as government had hoped, but they certainly would have transformed the housing prospects of a great many people in the period post 1944, and probably also helped some of the firms that built them diversify their work from military contracts too.

In a way they served to encapsulate the nation's desire to 'get on and do something practical to help people' which is sadly much lacking in parts of today's political debate...

This book by Greg Stevenson 'Palaces for the People' is a good read on the topic:

PALACES FOR THE PEOPLE PREFABS - Stevenson, Greg: 9780713488234 - AbeBooks

Devised as temporary housing after World War II, prefabricated homes fitted with all 'mod cons' represented the new way of living in post-war Britain. The fact that war-damaged aircraft were melted down to produce them and that POWs assisted construction, only helped to make the prefab a symbol...

www.abebooks.co.uk

and I think it may have been in that book that I read that Neil Kinnock had grown up in one - a fact I verified rom this 2017 Shropshire Star interview:

"...He urged ministers to “engage in a programme of massive building of prefabricated housing.”
Lord Kinnock added: “As someone who was brought up very happily in a prefab – a comfortable and affordable prefab – right through to my late teens, can I recommend strongly this is a rapid and effective way of addressing the fundamental problem of this 21st century.”

Lord Kinnock urges huge programme to build prefabricated homes

Former Labour leader says “affordable” prefabs could solve housing crisis.

www.shropshirestar.com

 

[Roger1973]

Not all prefab sites were redeveloped, I was surprised to find on the old OS maps that there was a site with around a hundred prefabs to the east of Barkingside on Forest Road of which no sign remains.

Some prefab 'estates' were set up on land that was / is now parks / open spaces. Sometimes when the weather is very dry, you can see the outlines. Blog post from 'running past' (very localised history blog mainly centred on the Hither Green / Lee area) has more about clusters of prefabs on Hilly Fields and Blackheath. From memory (of seeing them on old photographs and /or NLS maps not personal memories) think there were some on Clapham Common and Woolwich Common as well.

 

[High Dyke]

We still have some BISF around Grantham. I tried to buy one many years ago. No financial provider would agree a mortgage on that type of property however. We referred to them as Hoolie houses - though I've no idea where that name originated.

We also had some estates of prefab bungalows.

Found this website very informative on a subject I'd not really thought about, until this thread.

Steel & Metal Framed Non-Traditional Houses - Non-Standard House Construction - Information & Resource Centre

nonstandardhouse.com

 

[Western Lord]

Some prefab 'estates' were set up on land that was / is now parks / open spaces. Sometimes when the weather is very dry, you can see the outlines. Blog post from 'running past' (very localised history blog mainly centred on the Hither Green / Lee area) has more about clusters of prefabs on Hilly Fields and Blackheath. From memory (of seeing them on old photographs and /or NLS maps not personal memories) think there were some on Clapham Common and Woolwich Common as well.

This begs a question that hadn't occurred to me before, the provision of utilities at such sites. They would obviously have needed electricity, but what about water and sewerage?

 

[Sad Sprinter]

I was very young at the time, but I still have a hazy memory of an estate of prefabs on Streatham Hill, situated at the Christchurch Road crossroads with the South Circular as recently as the late 90s/2000. There grass patch is now massively overgrown and fenced off now. There also used to be a Cold War era air raid siren on the site on top of a long, tall pole.