Can modular housing help solve London’s homelessness crisis?

On a scorching August day outside London’s City Hall, a neat, green-clad building sits on a gravel lot under a bright blue sky. The sign on the building wall reads: “Step inside a home for the meantime.”

It sounds almost like an advertisement for a holiday home, but this could be part of the answer to the capital’s homelessness crisis, according to officials.

“We all recognise we’ve got a housing crisis in London, and for people who are homeless and living in temporary accommodation, they are at the absolute sharpest end of this,” Tom Copley, deputy mayor for housing, says, standing in the doorway.

“One of the key solutions is building the homes that we need, and in particular, social rented homes. And we also need interim solutions as well, while we build the social rented homes that we desperately need. That’s why solutions like this are so vital.”

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The first of these homes is set to be installed in Havering later this year, in what City Hall hopes will be the start of a wider rollout. The scheme will see 18 modular homes placed on land earmarked for future development, giving families a stable base for up to six years before the units are moved to another site.

“These units. They are well designed. They meet space standards. They’re energy efficient. And they’ve got a lifespan of 60 years,” Copley explains. “While they may only be temporary on one particular site, they can be moved around. In another sense, they are permanent, because they are providing a long-term solution, just moving to different sites.”

Some of the families who will eventually move into the Havering scheme, part of a joint venture between Havering Council and Wates Residential, have already played a part in shaping it. Rollalong showed one of its modules in Havering as part of the consultation process.

“Homeless families who live in [local] hostels were a part of the design process,” says Paul Jones, service director at Rollalong. “They came down to see what their vision looked like in the flesh – they loved a place like this and could absolutely see themselves living there.”

The home

For the next month, Londoners can step inside this two-bedroom modular home and see for themselves what City Hall, Wates Residential and Rollalong believe could be part of the answer to the capital’s homelessness crisis.

Inside, the space feels more like a smart new-build flat than an emergency stopgap. There’s a fully fitted kitchen complete with dishwasher, washer-dryer and fridge-freezer, finished to the same standards as permanent social housing. The ceilings are high, the rooms bright, and the layout makes the most of every inch – a deliberate choice, Jones says, to “make sure all the space is maximised” without compromising on comfort.

A full-sized bath in the family bathroom is another considered detail, reflecting feedback from parents. Bedrooms are generously sized, with room for desks so children can do homework, and built-in storage for the possessions families bring with them. The insulation exceeds building regulations, keeping the interior cool on hot days and warm in winter, while the all-electric heating system can run on renewable energy.

For visitors, the difference from a hotel room or bedsit is immediate. “People come in and say, ‘It’s a home, isn’t it?’” Jones relates. “And I’m like, ‘Yeah. Of course it is.’”

The homes on display are designed to offer a dramatic improvement on the hotels and bedsits many families are currently placed in, and Copley has seen first-hand the toll inadequate housing takes.

“So I’ve met with mothers and children who are living in some really, really poor quality accommodation that [are] being supported by the Magpie Project here in Newham,” he says.

“Some of those children are malnourished because there is no kitchen. There are no cooking facilities. Families are having to rely, you know, on takeaways, on pot noodles, on microwave meals, and this kind of home is just worlds away from that really poor quality accommodation.”

The 2030 goal

Sadiq Khan’s homelessness strategy, which includes a pledge to end rough sleeping in London by 2030, focuses heavily on prevention.

But the latest figures suggest the challenge is only growing. Between April 2024 and March 2025, 13,231 people were recorded as sleeping rough in the capital – the highest number on record and a 10% rise on the previous year, when numbers had already jumped by 19%.

Copley acknowledges these modular homes are not a preventative measure, but says they are still essential as an interim solution.

“Long term, we have to be building the high-quality, affordable, particularly social, homes that are needed to address the housing crisis,” Copley says. “But in the meantime, we do need temporary solutions like this.”

Government figures show that England needs 90,000 new social homes every year for the next decade to meet demand; yet in 2022-23, just 9,500 were built.

While the Havering scheme feels like a good starting point, the build promises just 18 homes. The need in the East London borough alone is stark. Between April and June this year, Havering had 1,236 households living in temporary accommodation, 838 of them with children.

Copley says he hopes it will be the start of something bigger. “We would hope that there will be many, many more,” he says.

“We are actively exploring how we can use some of the land that City Hall owns in order to deliver homes on site as well. And if we have any suitable sites, we’re definitely going to explore making sure that we are putting that land in and ensuring that these homes are delivered on the land that we control as well.”

But with 183,000 Londoners living in temporary accommodation, will modular homes really make a measurable dent?

“I think it has a big part to play,” Copley says. “It’s not the only solution, but frankly, given the scale of the crisis that we’ve got – given that we’ve got one child in every average London classroom now living in temporary accommodation – we have to be exploring every possible solution to this crisis.”

Liz Rutherfoord, chief executive of Single Homeless Project, called the scheme “creative, practical thinking in action” and urged that it be expanded. “It’s great to see these homes provided for families. Modular housing like this offers secure, affordable housing quickly and is a world away from the cramped, unsafe spaces too many people are forced to live in,” she said.

“As Tom Copley says, we have a housing crisis in London, and though these are small steps, they are a positive way forward which hopefully can be scaled up.

“At Single Homeless Project, we support over 10,000 people every year, and we see how the shortage of affordable housing is pushing more people into homelessness. We welcome the Mayor’s commitment to ending rough sleeping, the emphasis on homelessness prevention, and the investment in affordable social housing.

“We must also ensure that single people aren’t left behind. The scale of the crisis means we have to act fast, think boldly, and commit to solutions for everyone.”

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