First 18 ‘Modular’ Homes To Be Installed In Romford.
The first of 18 ‘modular’ homes will be installed in Romford next month, four months behind schedule, writes local democracy reporter Sebastian Mann.
Two modular homes will be erected in a site off Queen Street and Waterloo Road, with the remainder going up through March and April.
Residents are expected to be living there by May, Havering Council says.
They were initially set to be available by October, but have been held up by manufacturing hold-ups.
Each unit will cost £200,000 – at a total cost of £3.6million – though they can be relocated up to five times. They can also be stacked up to three storeys’ high.
Conservative councillor David Taylor challenged the Havering Residents’ Association administration on the “substantial delays” at a full council meeting last night (21st January).
He asked Councillor Graham Williamson, the cabinet member for housing, to explain why and if there had been a “knock-on effect” on the cost of temporary accommodation.
While Cllr Williamson “could not comment on the cost,” he said there was “good news and bad news” regarding the delays.
The installation had taken longer “than it was supposed to,” but the completed homes will be to a “greater internal and specification”.
“It is delayed but we are getting better homes,” he said.
The 18 temporary homes will be built to the same standards as permanent housing, and include amenities, bedrooms, family bathrooms, kitchens and living spaces.
The designated land was initially cleared to make way for a planned 1,380-home development in Romford, called Waterloo Estate.
However, the scheme was halted in 2023 and the council said this month that development will resume in “five to seven years’ time,” pushing it back to as late as 2032.
Havering hopes the housing will take the pressure off its temporary housing bill, which has put tremendous strain on the council’s finances.
In the summer, top councillors were warned the council was due to go over its housing budget by £1.8m – having already borrowed £88m to stay afloat.
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Temporary homes late — and different– for Waterloo Road? So basically, the contractor supplying these temporary homes won the contract for specific homes to be ready on site last October, to a specific design which I recall pictured in local papers. Now the design is completely different and they weren’t even ready as promised. Even if the design is “better” as claimed, several months of higher costs for homeless families have been paid out with resultant extended suffering for those families. Just how much control does this Council have over the services we pay high prices for? Weren’t the original promised homes really available at all?