Ikea already furnish many UK homes, and now the Swedish company is about to start providing the homes themselves. But no, you don’t need an Allen key and they’re not really ‘flatpack’, rather technologically advanced prefabricated buildings.

Gateshead is the site for the first UK development, by Live Smart @ Home, a wholly owned subsidiary of affordable housing group Home. It has the exclusive licence to build the Scandinavian timber-framed BoKlok homes here and Gateshead Council’s decision to grant planning permission means building starts in June.