A Housing Crisis Fast-Track Solution

02 Dec 2024

As part of their residential strategy, Daiwa House Modular Europe UK (DHME UK) have developed a viable solution to the emergency accommodation crisis.

Daiwa House Group is one of the world’s largest industrial builders with Daiwa House Modular Europe being a European giant of modern methods of construction (MMC) and a leading provider of modular and sustainable building solutions in Europe.

The charity Shelter England revealed a staggering £2.3billion was spent in England last year on emergency accommodation, whilst Shelter Cymru highlighted £99million was spent in Wales.

DHME UK have developed temporary homes that are fully Building Regulations compliant. These homes are designed to be redeployed and reconfigured into permanent houses, meeting Nationally Described Space Standards (NDSS), Welsh Development Quality Requirements (WDQR) or other relevant standards.

DHME UK offer a fast-track emergency accommodation solution that not only meets immediate needs but also reinvests the initial capital expenditure into the development of permanent affordable housing.

This solution redresses the situation noted in ‘Social Rent Housing at Pace: The MMC Playbook’ “Living in temporary accommodation affects people very badly in terms of physical health and mental health,” says Signe Gosmann from the Justlife Foundation. “It is traumatising, or re-traumatising and it creates a whole segment of society that struggles to move on in life.”

Providing a better standard of emergency accommodation gives residents a greater sense of independence and dignity. The ability to cook meals and wash their own clothes provides residents a place they can call home. A resident from a recently completed DHME UK project commented: “The bungalow is lovely – nice, spacious kitchen area and living room and I love the garden. Having somewhere to stay like this has really helped me, mentally. Although only temporary it feels like home.”

The BOPAS-accredited system is built offsite to ISO 19650 BIM standards. Featuring a hot-rolled steel frame with a concrete floor in a volumetric design, enables rapid deployment to disused land areas. With the option of using a convenient precast pad foundation system with integrated holding down bolts, it can be ready for delivery to any site within weeks, rather than months or years, eliminating the need for extensive and costly groundworks.

Daiwa House Modular Europe’s original goal was to provide a fast, affordable MMC housing solution for Housing Associations and Local Authorities across the UK. However, while developing the UK standard housing offerings, it became clear that the demand for emergency accommodation was even more urgent.