BoKloks, the affordable Swedish prefabricated homes first marketed in Britain last year by flat-pack furniture giant Ikea, have become the latest victim of the economic downturn.
Exactly two years since the BoKlok concept was launched in Britain, amid excited talk of a lottery to cope with the level of demand, only five properties have so far been sold on the first site in Gateshead. Only one of those five buyers was committed to buying the flat in full; the other four opted
for shared equity arrangements to reduce the size of deposit they had to offer.
Live Smart @ Home, the UK BoKlok developers, have now suspended development of homes not already under construction at Gateshead until conditions improve. BoKlok schemes elsewhere have been put on ice. Back in 2006, it was very different, with talk of building 500 BoKloks a year by 2009.
Financial Times
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