Flat pack mansions, shipping containers and 3D printed homes… how the houses of the future could slash property prices forever
Ambitious companies and builders want to change the way we look at housing forever
THESE are the radical and ambitious homes of the future which could guarantee everyone a property of their own - and end the UK housing crisis for good.
A scathing report released earlier this year blamed MPs' lack of ambition for failing to address the country's housing shortage.
But there are ambitious companies and builders who want to change the way we look at housing forever.
Yesterday we revealed how one family built their dream six-bedroom home in under four days, after buying their mansion flat packed.
Dad Richard Cooper, mum Nikki and children Teddie, 12, and Stanley, 10, told how they had outgrown London and decided to move to Dorset.
And rather than buy a property in the area, the Coopers decided to build their own - using flat-packed materials imported from Germany.
The benefits of building your own flat-pack home include the ability for you to easily tweak the design, in addition to saving an average of 10-25 per cent compared to building a conventional home.
It took just four days for the family to assemble their brand-new mansion, which set them back £1.2million.
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But the Cooper family aren't the only ones to look for alternative ways to build their dream home - and many others have found ways to do it on astonishingly low budgets.
Frenchman Josué Gillet built a stunning 3-bedroom home for just £125,000, using re-purposed shipping containers as a construction material.
The three-storey modular home offers a glimpse of how would-be homeowners can beat the housing market by using alternate materials to build an original home.
Made from five shipping containers, which were going cheap after making just one journey, the home has a luxurious and airy feel, without breaking the bank.
And some of the world's most radical housing solutions are emerging with the advancement of 3D printing technology.
American firm has developed a way to 3D print homes in just 24 hours, at a cost of just £8,000 per property.
The San Francisco-based company has already constructed a 400 square foot home in Russia, using a mobile printer which can construct the entire house on-site.
And a Ukranian company called is following suit with a range of affordable and durable 3D-printed homes.
The firm's self-contained homes are designed to be built anywhere in the world, using pre-printed walls, roofs and floors which slot together on-site.
The homes start at $31,900 (£26,000) and are available to be pre-ordered in Ukraine and America, with the first of the houses delivered later this year.
Aside from the price tag, the most impressive thing about the homes is the fact that they can exist off the grid, with no need to connect to external electrical and plumbing systems.
The homes, along with other 3D-printed and original properties, have the potential to slash house prices by giving buyers the option to build their own home on the cheap.
As well as giving people the freedom to live wherever they want, these futuristic homes all have the potential to offer radical solutions to the UK's housing crisis.
