UK unveils cheaper and faster IKEA flatpack homes

LONDON (Reuters Life!) - Britain's first Scandinavian-style IKEA flat-packed housing, built in a factory wall by wall and assembled on site, is ready for viewing, the company building it said on Thursday.

The first BoKlok block of flats in St James's Village near Gateshead, Tyne and Wear -- a joint venture between Swedish firm IKEA, better known for its flatpack furniture, and British company Live Smart @ Home -- has attracted good interest, the firm said, with more houses nearly complete.

"They are assembled in a factory near Milton Keynes and then come to the site to be bolted up," a Live Smart @ Home spokesman said. "It takes about 16 weeks from start to finish -- half the time of a conventional house. You save time and money on that basis."

Rising house prices have left Britain with a shortage of affordable housing, although prices have begun to fall slightly in recent months. A one-bedroom flat in the Gateshead complex costs 99,500 pounds ($197,600) while a three-bedroom house costs 149,995 pounds, cheaper than equivalent housing built from the ground up in the traditional manner.

Most of the 93 homes in the village are already sold, the company said.

The homes have grown in popularity in Scandinavia in recent years, the company said. Modular construction is becoming more common as builders try to save money.

Earlier in January British budget hotel chain Travelodge said it was building the country's first recyclable hotel from pre-built, container-like crates imported from China.

(Reporting by Peter Apps, editing by Paul Casciato)