We’ll never surrender love for our Churchill prefabs

But in Normanton, Wakefield, almost 50 prefabricated properties built as part of a plan instigated by Winston Churchill in 1944 to address the post-war housing shortage, are still going strong.

Harry and Audrey Copley have lived in the homes since they were built in 1956 and another resident, Shirley Stead, has lived in her property for more than 30 years.

Mrs Copley, 82, said: “The homes are different looking and have a lot of character.”

The aim of Churchill’s plan was to build thousands of prefab houses in Britain in the four years after the war, with structural lifetimes of between 10 and 15 years.

A design competition was held by the then Ministry of Works, to encourage the construction industry to design affordable temporary homes.

There were 1,000 designs submitted but after testing only a handful were actually used to build just 150,000 properties across the UK.

Today, the post-war prefab homes still remain in some parts of the country, but as time goes on they are becoming more and more unusual sights.

In Normanton, 49 homes, two of which are privately owned, remain and are now almost 55 years old, far outliving their original life expectations.

They are known as Cornish homes as they were designed by AE Beresford and R Tonkin for the Central Cornwall Concrete and Artificial Stone Company – and were built using mostly concrete and plasterboard.

Some people say they look like the homes have woolly hats on them because of the unusual shape of the roofs.

Mrs Stead, 66, who – together with her late husband Roy – raised her two daughters and son in her three-bedroomed home, has lived there since 1984.

She said: “Some kiddies call them mushroom homes.

“I love them and people think that they are very small inside until they come in and then they say ‘Oh aren’t they big?’

“They look like tiny houses from the outside but my lounge is 20ft long, which is a big room.”

When the family moved in in 1984 Mrs Stead said the homes were in quite a poor state of repair.

“But it was a roof over your head and you did what you could,” she added.

“Quite honestly the reason that I wanted to live in this house was because there was nothing in front of me all I have got is green and trees.”

She says over the years a drawback to the homes is that they have been cold. Mr Copley agrees with her comments, saying that over the years there have always been issues with keeping his home warm, until recent improvements which have brought about a dramatic improvement.

Mr Copley and his wife were delighted to get the keys to their Cornish home in Willow Crescent all those years ago. It was their first home and they were delighted to have a place of their own.

The couple have spent their entire married life in the property, brought up their children in their prefab home and they have celebrated birthdays and anniversaries there together with other family occasions for more than 50 years.

Wakefield and District Housing, (WDH), the housing organisation which is now landlord of the former local authority properties, has recently refurbished them, together with partners Keepmoat and NPS Property Consultants.

New roofing and exterior rendering has been put in place, together with insulation, to help improve energy efficiency and reduce bills.

“Our home is the warmest it’s ever been,” said 83-year-old Mr Copley.

“These homes used to be very cold, but WDH has done some great things to make them warmer.

“The outside of the homes look great and the home is very warm.

“We’ve had one fuel bill since the improvements were made and already it shows a reduction in costs.”

Mrs Copley said last night she was pleased that the improvements had kept the “unique character” of her property.

WDH area manager Mark Trafford said: “These homes have a very unique look and we have been able to keep the look and character of the local neighbourhood.”

It is hoped that the heating bills for the properties will be reduced by half and that carbon dioxide emissions will be reduced by as much as 77 per cent.