A town is due to get 11 new homes in the space of a few short weeks, thanks to a novel construction method.

Castlemere Developments is a firm specialising in modular building and is soon to install new roof-top apartments in Chilston Road, Tunbridge Wells.

The apartments have been prefabricated at a factory in Southampton and will be lifted into place on the roof of Hamilton Court, an existing three-storey block of flats, by crane.

Company spokesman John Parker said: “We are on site for a couple of weeks beforehand preparing. But the homes will be delivered over one weekend, the weekend after next.”

The company then expects to spend around three months connecting up the services and fitting out.

A standard new build could be anywhere between 12 and 18 months in construction.

The new properties will be accessed by extending an existing lift-shaft and stairway upward.

Mr Parker said: “There are two advantages to this type of build. Firstly, it is quicker and causes less disruption to neighbours.

“Secondly, it comes out at about 70% of the standard cost of a new-build.”

The six new one-bedroom flats will start at £223,000. The five new two-bedroom flats will be priced up to £354,000.

Most will have either an outdoor terrace or a balcony.

They will be gas-free and warmed by heat pumps

Under current planning legislation, adding storeys to existing buildings does not require planning permission, but does have to gain “prior approval”, which was granted by Tunbridge Wells Borough Council in July of last year.

Find out about planning applications that affect you at the Public Notice Portal.

Modular housing - first used as a means to solve the housing crisis following the Second World War - is gaining in popularity.

It is being promoted as a quick way to solve the nation’s housing crisis.

Castlemere Developments is based in Windsor in Berkshire, but Kent had its own modular homes manufacturer - Enevate Homes - based in Dartford.

There were 3,300 modular homes built in the UK in 2022, but that figure is expected to be close to 10,000 homes this year.