It had to happen. Ikea, the store that brought a world of mixed associations to the word '"flat-pack" and made the Allen key a vital part of life, is offering low-cost kit homes. Just as a generation of Britons know the Billy bookcase and Tovik chest of drawers, so a new name is entering our vocabulary: the BoKlok.
Ikea created the BoKlok with Swedish building firm Skanska and has sold 1,500 across Scandinavia. So far, there are three types of BoKlok houses - an 800sq ft three-bedroom version and two two-bed units of 635 and 520sq ft.
Now the BoKlok (pronounced "boo-klook") is heading for Britain. Planning permission has been given for 117 factory-built homes constructed in Sweden, shipped to the UK and craned into place near Gateshead International Stadium. The interiors of the timber-framed homes will be classic Ikea - modern, open plan, with wooden floors, fixed units, plus Ikea furniture packages.
"These homes are cleverly designed, highly energy-efficient and look fantastic, so I don't think there will be any shortage of buyers," says Gateshead councillor David Napier. More BoKloks are planned for Edinburgh, central Scotland, Yorkshire, Teesside, Greater London, Kent, Surrey, Sussex and Hampshire.
One big question remains unanswered however - how much will they cost? Ikea says the Gateshead BoKloks will be aimed at households earning £12,500 to £35,000 and will have shared-ownership status. That means a chunk ranging from 25 per cent to 75 per cent of the property will be bought by an individual, with the rest co-owned by a local housing association.
The theory goes that by building BoKloks in a factory, where work cannot be interrupted by weather and when production-line techniques ensure fewer faults, construction costs are cut by up to 40 per cent compared with conventional "on-site" methods.
In Scotland and northern England, land prices are relatively low. Therefore, build costs form a large share of a property's price. As a result, cheaper BoKlok-style building will directly lead to lower-priced homes. In southern England, land costs much more. Cheaper building will, therefore, make a proportionately smaller impact on overall price.
Ikea's new home is not the first sortie into so-called modular building techniques in Britain. The country's second-largest house builder Barratt Homes is working with Terrapin, a firm that specialises in pre-fabricated sheds and warehouses. They are building a factory in Northamptonshire that ultimately aims to build 10 modular homes a day.
"Our objective is to build weather-tight shells with high levels of energy efficiency, the minimum number of defects, less waste, more safety and speed in the construction process," says Barratt spokesman Harold Walker.
Again, these will be targeted mainly at housing associations that will manage shared ownership schemes, or at first-time buyers for whom price is the critical factor.
But modular construction is not by definition restricted to the lower end of the market. In 2003, famous-daughter Carol Thatcher was one of the first people in the UK to have a pre-fabricated penthouse, winched on to the top of her Chelsea home by another Scandinavian firm, First Penthouse. The "storey" was made in Sweden and shipped to London.
Whether aimed at the high or low market sectors, modular homes will hold their value. Research by British property consultancy Savills suggests that modular-made homes appreciate in line with mainstream homes.
Ikea, it seems, has another winner on its hands. And this time, it isn't down to the buyer to put it together.
More details on BoKlok housing from www.boklok.com; First Penthouse on 020 7584 9894,www.firstpenthouse.co.uk; Barratt and Terrapin Advance Housing on 01327 701200,www.advancehousing.net
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