Ikea wants to build homes in Britain that cost what the buyer can pay

宜家打算在英国建造人们可以买得起的房屋

Ikea conquered the world with inexpensive furniture. Now it's turning its attention to affordable homes in Britain.

宜家凭借低廉的家具征服了全世界。现在，宜家将目光转向建造人们可以买得起的房屋。

Worthing, a town in southern England, is considering a plan to work with developer BoKlok, a joint venture of Ikea and Swedish construction company Skanska.

Worthing是英国南部的一个城镇。目前，其正在考虑和开发商BoKlok共同制定一项计划。BoKlok是宜家和瑞典建筑公司Skanska共同成立的合资公司。

The development would be BoKlok's first in the United Kingdom since a previous project fell flat during the global financial crisis. The group, whose name is Swedish for "live smart," has built more than 11,000 homes throughout Sweden, Finland and Norway.

fall flat:完全失败，毫无效果

该项目可能会成为BoKlok在英国开发的首个项目。BoKlok此前在英国开发的一个项目因全球金融危机而宣告失败。BoKlok在瑞典语中的意思是“智能居住”。该公司已在瑞典、芬兰和挪威建造了1.1万座房屋。

By building homes in a factory and assembling them quickly, the project could demonstrate one way to ease acute housing shortages that help drive up prices until they're out of reach for average earners. An innovative sales model that charges people based on what they can afford could spark further change in the market.

住房严重不足会推高房屋价格并导致工薪阶层无法承受。在该项目中，在工厂制造房屋并快速将其组装起来成为缓解住房紧张的一个办法。这种按照人们所能付得起的价格来进行收费的创新型销售模式可能会促使市场发生更深刻变化。

Housing in Britain

英国的住房情况

The proposal for Worthing, which will undergo a more rigorous financial analysis over the coming months, details an unusual model for affordable living.

Worthing将在未来几个月进行一次更加严格的财务分析。而针对Worthing的建议将详细介绍一种独特的、可负担得起的居住模式。

BoKlok would build roughly 160 houses on land leased from the local council, with 30% of units earmarked for public housing, according to a plan posted online. The first homes could be occupied within two years.

BoKlok将在从当地市政所租赁的土地上建造大约160座房屋。根据网上所公布的计划，其中30%的住房为公共住房。首批房屋可以在2年内入住。

The remainder would operate under BoKlok's "Left to Live" payment model, where residents are charged only what they can afford after taxes and living expenses.

其余的房屋会按照Boklok的“剩余生活款项”支付模式来运作。根据这一模式，居住者仅支付在缴纳税费和支付居住成本后所能拿出的费用。

Payments — typically around a third of net monthly earnings — go toward a 25-year mortgage.

付款-通常大约为每月净收益的三分一将用于为期25年的抵押。

Local councilors said in a statement that the project would let Worthing rapidly build homes that meet standards for quality.

当地委员会在声明中表示，这个项目可能会使Worthing迅速建造出能够符合质量标准的住房。

A spokesperson told  that BoKlok's modular housing — or homes that are made of fitted sections that can be made off site — would be particularly helpful in Worthing, which has limited land. Three times as many homes could be built in the area compared to a traditional development approach, he said.

发言人表示，Boklok的组合式住房--或使用可拼接材料并可以不在工地现场建造的房屋对于Worthing而言特别有帮助。因为这里的土地非常有限。按照这种方式建造的房屋数量是传统开发方法的3倍。

Construction would start in January 2021, according to the proposal. Residents would be able to start moving in as soon as April of that year.

根据方案，建造可能会与2021年1月开始。居民最快可以在当年4月份就搬进新家。

BoKlok said in a statement that it can't confirm any projects at this time, but it'ooking into potential sites in the United Kingdom, particularly in the southern and western parts of the country.

Boklok在一份声明中表示，其目前还不能确认任何项目。但是，它正在了解英国一些有潜力的区域，特别是在其南部和西部地区。

Ikea's influence宜家的影响力

The BoKlok approach to affordable and sustainable housing draws heavily on Ikea's tried and tested methods.

Bloklok建造可持续同时又负担得起的房屋很大程度上来自于宜家已经过实践验证的方法。

"BoKlok was designed the IKEA way: large volumes, low prices," according to a Skanska blog post from 2011. "Industrialized production and large volumes — in other words, repetition — cut prices and save time in planning."

根据2011年所发表的Skanska博客，BoKlok就是按照宜家方式设计的：量大、低价。“工业化的生产和数量大-换句话说，重复性-可以节约成本并减少规划的时间。”

The venture also controls its entire supply chain, including land acquisition, factory production, site work, sales and marketing. That helps trim costs. Additionally, BoKlok relies on wood for the construction of homes, and doesn't buy land unless it knows it can be developed shortly.

公司还对整个供应链进行控制，包括获取土地、工厂生产、现场作业、销售和营销。这些都有助于节省成本。此外,Boklok还依靠树木来建造房屋并且不会购买短期内无法开发的土地。

This efficiency has the potential to be lucrative. In 2017, BoKlok made up about half the homes Skanska sold in Sweden, and the company said the venture delivered "great" returns.

这样的高效性会产生巨大的利润。在2017年，Boklok制造出瑞典大约一半的住房。公司表示，这一经营项目带来了“巨大的”回报。

消息来源：CNN, 编辑：Susan