The UK’s first 3D printed homes are set to offer homeless veterans the chance to work on their own home.
Not-for-profit Building for Humanity’s £6million project in Accrington, Lancashire, is set to deliver 46 eco-friendly affordable homes for low-income families and homeless veterans next year.
Each home will be among the first built using 3D construction printing, which architects Harcourt Technologies (HTL.tech) insist will help to tackle the housing crisis by slashing labour and material costs as well as cutting down on waste.
Many of the people who will live in the homes will receive training to be upskilled in printing of the houses and other roles at BfH as part of attempts to boost employment.
“I’ve got a lot of experience in the construction industry but there is obviously still a big shortage of housing, especially affordable housing,” Scott Moon, founder of Building for Humanity, told The Big Issue. “The basis of the model is to build truly affordable housing and give people who are down on their luck a chance to get off the street.”
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“It’s about giving people that chance and understanding what they actually want to do with their life. It’s alright picking somebody off the street, making sure they’re alright and just putting them into a house, but that just doesn’t work. This is a long-term financial model with wraparound support built into a humanity credit programme.”