PREFABRICATED flats could be placed on top of existing blocks of homes in a bid to tackle the housing crisis in Colchester.

Colchester Council is in the early stages of exploring the idea of adding additional floors to suitable buildings in the town in a bid to address the demand for social housing.

Residents at three council owned sites in Christopher Jolly Court, Berefield Way and Gardenia Walk have been told the authority is set to enter the “exploratory” stages of the scheme in the coming weeks.

A spokesman for Colchester Council said: “We are committed to delivering up to 350 new affordable homes across the borough over the next five years to help provide a home to some of the over 3,000 households on our waiting lists.

“To meet this target we are having to look at new ways of delivering these properties from the traditional house building projects.

“One of these innovative projects is to potentially create purpose-built flats that would be used to create an additional floor on suitable existing blocks of flats.”

Similar schemes have been used by authorities in London to meet housing demands.

Colchester Council said it was in the “extremely early stages” of a feasibility study.

The spokesman continued: “We have written to the residents at the potential sites as we will need to do some further investigation work to see if we can take the scheme forward.

“We will ensure we continue to work closely with them throughout the process and discuss any issues and concerns they may have.”

The blocks have been chosen due to their flat roofs, which are ideal for placement of the new modular flats

These would be built at a factory off-site and then lifted by a crane on to the existing properties.

Works to strengthen or reinforce the existing blocks would take place beforehand and a base would be provided with access points for utilities.

Residents have been told they would not have to move out of their homes while work is ongoing and any disruption would be minimised as much as possible.

Parking provision will also be increased at the sites where new flats are added.