Britain is to get a new wave of prefabs as ministers plan to offer help to build 100,000 ready-made homes to try to solve the housing crisis, the Telegraph has learnt.

In a major strategy shift, the Government has decided to meet its ambitious housing targets by embracing the first new generation of pre-packed homes since the great reconstruction drive that followed the Second World War.

Many of the modern prefabs, now known as “modular homes”, will be aimed at younger Britons to help them on to the housing ladder.

It is understood that a Government white paper expected to be published next month will include measures to encourage banks to lend to small firms that build houses off-site, which are then delivered to a final destination.

Ministers have taken a “huge interest” in 21st-century prefabs after being impressed that some were erected on site in just 48 hours.