We put the question to Birmingham City Council

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There are only a handful left in Birmingham and most of them no longer meet modern day living standards - but could these post-war bungalows be the answer to the city's housing crisis? BirminghamLive has been delving into the history of the 17 Wake Green "prefabs" in Moseley, and asking what could happen to them after plans to restore the buildings were put on hold.

Readers responded in their hundreds, sharing their own memories of Brum's prefab colonies. Many have also questioned whether these factory-built dwellings could be the answer to the city's homes shortage.

The steel-framed shelters were built in the 1940s to replace houses destroyed by bombing during the Second World War. They were only designed to last ten years, but many of the city's prefabs lasted well into the 1970s, meaning masses of Brummies still hold memories of these time-warp homes today.

READ MORE: Moseley prefabs: The families who live there and love them

Reader Lynette Sweeney-Williams wrote: "My aunt and uncle lived in one in Acocks Green. [I] used to love going to visit them in the 50s, seemed very modern to me with there being a bathroom, two large bedrooms and a massive garden! We lived in a little terraced house in Winson Green with gas light in our kitchen, an old cast iron range fire in the living room, outside toilet and no bathroom."

In pictures: Moseley prefabs past and present

David Francis said: "Amazing. I saw them being built on Wake Green Road. A relative lived in one elsewhere. They were very modern for their time." Bev Cannon commented to say: "I was born in one in Solihull 63 years ago", while a reader under the username Linbadd wrote: "In the 60s, I had a friend who lived in a prefab.

"It was lovely inside - warm and cosy. What a shame they've nearly all gone."

Dozens of readers also responded with calls for modernised prefabs to be developed to boost the city's social housing supply. Wayne Pickrell said: "We have a social housing shortage. Instead of building affordable housing, they should build more prefabs.

"Surely they can build one and two-bedroomed ones for single people, couples and small families."

A reader under the username Imty wrote: "I think a modern version of these using old shipping containers that are modded, insulated and rented out would be excellent for temporary housing. With the current industrial aesthetic buildings are going for, I can imagine they would be unique and as these 17 houses show, can have their own charm to them.

"Of course they will require a lot of modification but the council has the money to hire decent architects and designers. £15k per modded house to make, being generous? Cheap housing, cheap rent and recycling done too."

Echoing that sentiment, June Burnett said: "This type of housing with today’s technology and materials would help solve the housing problems." And another reader with the username Davedavedav commented: " We should build more houses like this. Metal and wood are great building materials. The current trend to spending over £100,000 on a pile of bricks and having to share a wall with some moron is idiotic."

A recent report showed Birmingham City Council had around 60,000 properties - less than half the 1981 number - and more than 18,649 households waiting on the housing register. The authority is receiving around 500 applications a week to join the register and is struggling to process requests quickly enough, according to an investigation by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

And with the ongoing Birmingham Fair Housing Campaign drawing attention to the brutal extent of Birmingham's escalating housing crisis, perhaps it is time for decision-makers to think outside the brick-built box. After all, the Wake Green prefabs are still standing 70 years after their use by date and families still love living there.

But Jane Hearn, curator of the national Prefab Museum, thinks it unlikely the prefabs will make a comeback. "They were built with money from the government and it was very much a wartime thing to meet a very desperate need for homes in Birmingham and elsewhere," she said. "So I think it's unlikely we'll see more.

"People complained at the time and said they took up too much space, but now people love them, there's no doubt about that. I think Birmingham did have a go at some two-storey prefab housing a few years ago. They were going to be built in former garage compounds, but I'm not sure that took off as much as it was hoped."

The scheme Jane is referring to was revealed in 2019 - factory-built modular homes that could be put together in two weeks. They would then be craned into place on problematic brownfield sites such as garages, which typically ramp up the development costs, do not accommodate affordable housing and can put off private developers.

At first they were described as shipping containers, then battleships and then rabbit hutches. The so-called 'ModPod' design certainly divided opinion.

The city council's housing arm, Birmingham Municipal Housing Trust, had hoped to install more than 50 by the summer of 2020 after unveiling the first in Heaton Street, Hockley in June 2019. But it was decided on review that modular housing was only value-for-money on a larger scale and many of the planned projects were shelved.

So what does the future hold for factory-build homes? We asked Birmingham City Council.

A spokesperson confirmed the authority would not be building any more prefabs in future. But there could still be a place for modular homes in the city.

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The council spokesperson said: "The Moseley prefab housing is of its time and is a great piece of heritage. While we would not build any more prefabs, we are looking at new ways to build homes which are quicker to construct, energy efficient, cost-effective and will be equally cherished by their owners."

They added: "A pilot using a modular approach was completed in 2019 at Heaton Street. Following an evaluation of the scheme, it was determined that it was only when provided at scale that modular housing provided value for money.

"A suitable site of sufficient scale is yet to be identified to use modular housing to provide family houses. However we are proposing to use timber frame construction for a small number of housing sites which is an example of off-site manufacture in the development process to speed construction.

"A modular approach is being used at the Perry Barr Residential Scheme where modern methods of construction (MMC) and off-site manufacture for the light gauge steel-framed system have been used on plots eight and nine. This has been the preferred solution over traditional construction methods to ensure that more could be achieved with a reduced cost.

"Utilising the MMC approach the benefits realised were increased safety and resource certainty, improved logistics and site space and reduced carbon footprint and weight."

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