Sounds like it would make ideal student housing too.
Or a 'man cave' in the garden. Hmm wonder how much they retail for.
The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has placed an order for 10,000 flat-pack IKEA refugee shelters. Following an 18 month trial in Ethiopia and Iraq, the 10,000 Better Shelter units are set to be deployed to Iraq, where more than 2.5 million people have been displaced from their homes since January 2014, mostly fleeing …
http://www.fastcoexist.com/1682416/a-new-ingeniously-designed-shelter-for-refugees-made-by-ikea
"The Ikea Foundation (which has invested approximately 3.4 million euros in the project so far) and UNHCR will beta test the shelters in Ethiopia next month, then iterate to a final design for mass production. They currently cost $10,000 to make, but they’re hoping to get that price down to less than $1,000 when they’re in mass production. The tents cost half that, but they hope to have the cost even out, given the long life of the shelters."
$1,150 is a bargain. I'll have two and I'm not taking the piss. I was paying that for two weeks rent after the last big storm blew through here and damaged my house. You couldn't even hire a caravan or a portacabin for love nor money. I could keep two of these flat-packed in the garage ready for the next big storm.
It would make sense to sell these to us non-refugees, at a hefty markup, to help reduce the cost of the ones going to more deserving types.
I'd still buy one if it was double the price. The extra profit could pay for one for refugee use. My last temporary accommodation rent bill was around $12k so everyone's a winner.
What kind of fancy school did you go to? This would have been a luxury dorm for my class. This is what happens when you go to a historic school and the dorms are classified as 'historic buildings' by the city council... Or maybe because they poured all the tuition into their sports teams.
"Since when has council housing charged commercially normal rent levels?"
It's "social" housing which is, on the whole, now mortgage free. Councils are not supposed to make a profit from renting out social housing but have, for a few years now, been under an obligation to run their social housing on a break-even basis rather than at a loss so no, I'd say it's not subsidised. Neither are the tenants subsidising the lifestyle of the landlords. There is an argument that owner occupiers are subsidised more than social renting thanks to tax breaks and mortgage benefits if becoming unemployed.
On the other hand, a quick google brings up an article by Tim Worstal who manages to turn this break-even process into a £6.6b "cost" in "lost revenue", possibly as much as £660b in "lost" money tied up in capital housing stock.
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from the fastcoexist article:
"Each flat-packed kit will come with a single solar panel that powers a built-in light and a USB outlet."
Given the growing use of cell phones in the developing world, this is a pretty useful feature. Enabling refugees to charge their phones allows them to stay in contact with friends and relatives, as well keeping abreast of events in the outside world (if the camps provide wifi).
Keter makes garden sheds quite similar to this, I'd say a bit smaller and cheaper than this. Not without tools, I think it came with one Allan key.
If they manage to make these cheap enough, they can go into business selling them, with each one sold financing another one to help people in need. If that's too expensive, a plan where you buy one, pay 50% on top as a tax-deductible donation, and for every two UK buyers someone in need gets one for free.