Hotels look into modular homes

Hotels are scoping out the cost of modular homes in order to house homeless families on their premises.

Donal Byrne, of modular housing manufacturer Big Red Barn, says he has previously been contacted by a hotel about providing facilities for their homeless residents. the Mayo-based businessman said: ‘We got a call from a hotelier on the outskirts of Dublin asking us the cost of three or four of them in the back of the hotel because all his hotel rooms were filled with homeless families, so we gave him a price.’

Hotels in the city are financially incentivised by Dublin City Council to provide accommodation for homeless families. Mr Byrne said he previously met an official from the council about making modular homes for social housing, but he was told it was not feasible.

‘While the UK and America have modular building regulations, Ireland doesn’t,’ he explains. He last year signed a deal with officials in the Us state of Rhode Island supply modular homes to authorities there.

Mr Byrne says that Irish people are wedded to the notion of having ‘concrete homes’ unlike Americans.

In time, he says, attitudes might change in Ireland.

‘Modular housing industry in the next few years will be one of the biggest industries,’ he said.