Industrialised houses: what they are, how they are built and what they cost

What is an industrialised house?

It is a home that is built in a factory, with repeatable, measured processes, and then transported and assembled on the plot. The word says how it is made, not what it is made of: an industrialised house can be timber, concrete, steel or shipping containers.

It is also the name the authorities use: in April 2025 the Spanish Government launched the PERTE for the industrialisation of housing because in Spain these methods account for less than 5% of construction.

Is it the same as a prefabricated or modular house?

In practice, almost: the three names overlap and each manufacturer uses them in its own way. Some call a house that arrives assembled prefabricated, and one built on the plot from factory-made parts industrialised, and some brands put all three words on the same house.

What does change what you buy is how the house arrives:

• •In almost finished modules, joined on the plot within days: these are modular houses.
• •In panels (walls, floors and roof) assembled on the foundations.
• •As a kit: the materials and the plans, with the assembly up to you.

How an industrialised house is built

Its advantage is that the factory and your plot work at the same time:

1. 1Project and permit, the longest part. If your region does not set another deadline, the town hall has 3 months to decide, and if it does not answer, the permit is deemed refused.
2. 2Manufacturing under cover, with no stoppages for rain, while the foundations and utility connections are done on the land.
3. 3Transport by lorry and assembly by crane, in days or a few weeks.
4. 4Finishing work and first occupancy: assembled does not mean habitable.

The lead time manufacturers promise depends on what you buy: a kit arrives sooner (a median of 7 weeks, across 124 houses) than a turnkey house (22 weeks, across 152 houses). Stage by stage, in how long a modular house takes.

What it saves you compared with a conventional build, and what it does not

What you gain:

• •Time: the factory does not stop for rain and the house progresses at the same time as the foundations. The Government estimates that industrialisation cuts building times by 20% to 60%.
• •Fewer surprises: the house is fully defined before it is manufactured, and anything you change afterwards is expensive.

What it does not solve:

• •The land, which is always extra. The permit, the foundations and the utility connections depend on the manufacturer: few turnkey houses say they include the permit.
• •Access: a module needs a lorry and a crane all the way to the plot, and that limits its size.
• •Money up front: you usually pay a good part before you see the house assembled. What to ask for in the contract, in prefab house step by step.
• •Financing: depending on how it is anchored to the ground, it counts as movable or immovable property, and the mortgage depends on that.

How much an industrialised house costs

Before looking at the material, look at what the price covers. Each scope has its own median, and it is only compared within its own:

• •Turnkey, the finished house: 1,639 €/m² (137 houses from 21 manufacturers). Concrete is the most expensive material.
• •Shell only: 649 €/m² (87 houses from 8 manufacturers). The whole interior is missing.
• •Kit: 403 €/m² (132 houses from 8 manufacturers). The assembly is up to you.

Broken down by house size, these medians are in the price per m² comparison. And before taking a figure at face value, check in each listing what is included: VAT, transport, assembly and foundations vary from one manufacturer to another.

Industrialised houses you can see

Six houses from six manufacturers. Look at what each price covers before comparing them:

• •Atlántida Homes Aura (in Spanish): steel and concrete modules that leave the factory finished. Turnkey, from 197,000 € plus VAT and with the foundations extra (2,463 €/m²).
• •Casaredia Universal 52 (in Spanish): steel structure. Turnkey, from 93,900 € (1,806 €/m²).
• •MCCM Casas 115 with terrace (in Spanish): modular with a mixed structure. Turnkey, from 196,153 € (1,706 €/m²).
• •Dos Días Container Canarias 60 (in Spanish): two shipping containers. Turnkey, from 59,500 € (992 €/m²).
• •Teide Modular TM2 Magma (in Spanish): reinforced concrete. Shell only, from 85,000 € (1,063 €/m²), and it only delivers in Tenerife.
• •Hobycasa Alicante 105 (in Spanish): solid timber logs. Kit, from 30,587 € (344 €/m²), with the assembly up to you.

If you would rather start with the company, see the Spanish manufacturers of prefabricated houses: among them, inHAUS (in Spanish) makes concrete modular houses that are almost finished in the factory, and MCCM Casas (in Spanish), modular houses built to the Passivhaus standard.