Prefabricated house sales skyrocketed in 2021
ISTANBUL
The demand for a prefabricated house has quadrupled amid the pandemic, as the sale of these structures soared by 300 percent in 2021, a sector representative has said.
In an interview with daily Milliyet on March 22, Mehmet Çankaya, a company owner, listed three reasons why customers have started preferring prefabricated houses.
“The first reason is the duration of the construction,” he said. “Rather than waiting for months for the construction of a concrete house, a prefabricated house is ready within 20 or 25 days maximum.”
The cheap cost of construction of a prefabricated house is another advantage.
According to Çankaya, people obtain more habitable interior space in prefabricated houses in comparison to concrete ones. “This indoor characteristic is another reason people opt for prefabricated houses,” he added.
When asked if these structures are “liveable” as sector representatives allege, Ahmet Yıldız, who bought one in 2020, replied “Yes.”
“We made the deal in October. The house was erected in November,” Yıldız noted. “There were severe rainfalls in the last two years, but we did not have any trouble.”
“The indoors of the house stay cool during the summers, and we heat the house with a wood-burning stove in winters,” he added.
A prefabricated house has everything that a concrete house has, said Mustafa Çakır, another owner.
“The only problem one may face in a prefabricated house is an acoustic or thermal insulation,” he added.
In case of improper insulation, even wind sounds can resonate sharply inside the house and cause discomfort, Çakır warned.
One other disadvantage of these structures is that they are exempt from house insurance policies.
“You cannot insure these houses, so you need to take care of their maintenance quite often.”
According to advertisement brochures, prefabricated houses last for 50 years.
“The main material used in the construction of these houses is silicone, which is harmed rapidly by precipitations. I had to make a sheathing after living seven years in my house,” Çakır warned.
