Lasting memories

‘What can be nicer? You can understand me not wanting to move,’ says Eddie O’Mahony, 93, while looking around the neat living room of his prefabricated home in Catford, south east London.

Mr O’Mahony’s bungalow is one of many homes that feature in exhibition of photographs by Elisabeth Blanchet – Prefabs: Palaces for the People – held at Photofusion in Brixton, London, between 28 June to 2 August. He has lived here ever since he returned from the army in 1946. But now, the Excalibur estate, made up of 186 prefabs, has finally been marked for demolition by Lewisham Council. It has been trying to redevelop the land since the 1950s, only to be fought off by campaigning residents. 

By 1944, more than 1 million homes had been damaged across the UK by Luftwaffe bombs. The acute housing shortage led to a temporary housing programme and the introduction of the prefab, a prototype which went on display outside the Tate Gallery in London that year. Prime minister Winston Churchill hoped to build half a million of them, and in a public speech in March 1944, he said: ‘I have given my word that the soldiers, when they return from the war, and those who have been bombed out [of their homes] and made to double up with other families, shall be restored to homes of their own at the earliest possible moment.’

And the result, two-bed council houses, with immersion heaters, built-in cupboards, indoor bathrooms and spacious gardens, offered unheard-of luxury and comfort to many. ‘To find a bathroom inside was magic,’ recalls Mr O’Mahony as he shows me around his modest home. ‘And a refrigerator! Ordinary people didn’t have them.’

Built in a day

Taking in various comments and suggestions, factories no longer needed for the war effort were turned over to the production of prefabricated parts that could be transported and constructed into a house in a day.

Built in 1945 and 1946 by  German and Italian prisoners of war, the Excalibur estate and 150,000  prefabs around the country were meant as a stopgap, their lifespan thought to be one or two decades at most. Although many have since been replaced, thousands of families across Britain, including Mr O’Mahony’s, have been fighting to stay living in their prefabs.

‘People couldn’t get furniture after the war as the manufacture hadn’t started yet, so my mother was thrilled to have all the cupboards and the boiler too,’ recalls Valerie Sommerville, 68, who grew up on the Excalibur estate. ‘We had all walks of life here, as people were bombed out, so you had school teachers, park keepers and there was even a solicitor. Everyone got on with each other.’

The marked improvement in living conditions explains the attachment many people have to their prefabs. ‘I only have praise for the German PoWs that they’re still up; they made a marvellous job of it,’ says Mr O’Mahony.

He admits, though, that the prefab has been stifling in the summer and difficult to heat in winter. ‘My sons could pick icicles off the walls in their bedroom,’ he recalls.

Winding down

Over the years, Lewisham Council has invested little into the prefabs and some have fallen into disrepair, to the dismay of many residents who took it upon themselves to refurbish their homes, add extensions, and in one case, mock-Tudor beams.

‘The council should have been carrying out repairs, painting and redecorating, so people would want to live here,’ says Jim Blackender, who tried to fight Lewisham Council’s decision to demolish the estate. His bid failed and he moved out of his prefab last year.

The ‘decanting’ has already begun and 28 prefabs are standing empty. Six, however, have been granted Grade II listing by English Heritage and will be preserved and their residents will be allowed to stay on. The others will be asked to move out of their prefabs in stages, but will be offered the chance to move back into the new homes on the estate.

Lewisham Council plans to replace the prefabs with 371 new dwellings. ‘We are under legal obligation to provide decent homes,’ said a spokesperson from the local authority. ‘Judging by modern living standards, the prefabs are not suitable and it is not viable to bring them up to the decent homes standard.’

Some prefabs have been brought up-to-date: in 2010 Radian retrofitted a row of 13 1950s prefabs in Petersfield, Hampshire, for example adding external wall insulation, to make them cheaper and more comfortable to live in. But this project is an exception made possible by EU funding.

In Killamarsh, near Sheffield, an estate of 49 prefabs also faces demolition. Many people here are just as attached to their homes as the Excalibur estate residents in London.

Despite walls green with damp and windows that used to freeze on the inside, Joyce Cramp, 82, recalls fondly: ‘It was so cold, there was a tiny fireplace, but you had to take what you could in those days. Eventually the council put in central heating, which was marvellous, it made things a lot better.’

Her neighbour, Bernard Dye, 84, an ex-miner, likes the layout of the prefabs: ‘Everything is on hand. I like that there are no stairs, no upstairs to look after. It takes some keeping warm, though, that’s the only problem.’

Former Labour leader Neil Kinnock grew up in a prefab in south Wales.  ‘Our house was a place of wonder and a piece of wonderful engineering,’ he recalls. ‘In our area, the prefab was a huge improvement – a step up from decrepit, often very crowded, rented accommodation into your own council house.

‘We’ve got a shortage of affordable housing and a shortage of jobs in the manufacturing industries. So let’s sort two problems and start making prefabs again.’

So can prefabs really come to our rescue once again? Hammersmith & Fulham Council thinks they can and in November 2012 approved plans for the development of modern prefab homes in order to help first-time  buyers on to the property ladder. 

Prefabs for the future

Rational House in Hammersmith, made of 88 precast panels composed of industrial waste, and assembled in just 11 days, is a prototype for a green home that can be constructed without the noise and dust often associated with building sites.

A pilot development of 10 such properties is being planned on Spring Vale estate in nearby Brook Green. Some of the new homes will be sold at a discounted rate and are aimed at households that earn an average of £36,000 to £50,000.

Councillor Andrew Johnson, Hammersmith & Fulham’s cabinet member for housing, says he wants to see a borough ‘where decent, hard- working local residents can fulfil their housing dreams and purchase a property for a reasonable price’.

‘If other local authorities were to follow our lead and build homes like this on their own land it would have a significant impact on London’s housing crisis and could help thousands of people into homeownership,’ he adds.

Back in Killamarsh, Ms Cramp and Mr Dye are waiting to move to the new homes that will be constructed in place of the prefabs. ‘This was our first home, mine and my husband’s. We started our family here and it’s always been lovely, us being here,’ says Ms Cramp sadly.

‘There’s a sense of community here, people keep an eye on each other,’ Mr Dye adds.

‘I have nothing against the prefabs, they’re fabulous. They have provided people with a nice comfortable home for an extra 40 years. But I’m looking forward to the move – provided I live long enough.’