Homeless Families Starting To Suspect “Modular Homes” May Just Be A Fancy Name For Prefabs

FAMILIES currently living in emergency accommodation while waiting to be re-homed by Dublin County Council are starting to think they’re being sold a pup when it comes to “modular homes”, as it dawns on them that this may just be a fancy way of saying “we’re going to stick you in a prefab”.

Dozens of families, many with small children, will be placed in modular homes across five sites in the city over the coming months, in highly sought-after areas such as Ballymun, Ballyfermot and Belcamp.

Although council members have extolled the virtues of these modular homes since they were first announced, the families who have been living in hotel rooms and B&Bs for months are starting to get wise to the fact that a “modular home” is nothing more than a prefab.

Suspicions were confirmed after the Government announced that the country’s classroom shortage would be solved by “modular classrooms”, and long hospital waiting lists would be addressed by the implementation of “modular beds”.

“When we heard we were finally getting a home, we were delighted,” said Deena Kelly, who was forced to leave her home with her two small children after suffering domestic abuse at the hands of her husband.

“Then we heard it was a modular home, and we weren’t sure what that was. The pictures looked nice though. But the more I see of them, they sure do look an awful lot like the draughty, poorly insulated prefabs we used to have at school. Yeah, I’m starting to think that maybe having two kids under three years of age in one of these over the winter isn’t the great deal they’re making it out to be”.

Despite concerns, the Government insists that the construction of modular homes is a foolproof, can’t-fail method of solving the housing crisis in Ireland forever.