Interesting idea, mind you they were probably better as houses than gliders, oops did I say that out loud
Seriously though, I think I would have prefered a Pre-Fab if I was homeless. The Horsa conversions would have been cold and cramped, which shows (a) how hard life was in the post-war years especially for people who had been "bombed-out", and (b) how used we have become to a much higher level of comfort than they had then. In terms of expectations and the change in society, we have to remember that being post-war is no longer recent. 1947 was closer to the Boer War than the present day, in terms of culture as well as time.
I think it was a really creative idea ! though I don't suppose there were that many of them available ! .... after the bombing though - people were thrilled to have a roof over their heads !! We lived in prefabs and to my family you'd think "we'd died and gone to heaven " .... they were only supposed to be temporary for 18 months .... they eventually pulled them down 30 years later !! .... more solid than bricks and mortar !! :mosking:
There are some other interesting houses on that site: TopFoto Gallery - Alternative Housing And I used this attachment elsewhere. Though the examples are used in a paper on POW camps in Britain, the types typify those used during the war, and some were used as "temporary" accommodation for civilians who had been blitzed
There are some pre-fabs still around now. I worked in Peckham about ten years ago and there were certainly some there in the back streets - still lived in and well-tended. (In fact they have outlived the surrounding first generation of post-war development such as the notorious Pepys Estate which has already been pulled down. There are some streets just off Peckham Rye where you could almost think you were in a country village!)
