What is a prefabricated home?

  • Prefabricated – or prefab - homes are built partially offsite and then transported to be permanently affixed to your land.

Modular, kit and prefab? What’s the difference?

  • Prefab is the umbrella term used to describe homes which are partially built offsite in factories, which can also be referred to as transportable homes. Modular and kit-homes are two different types of prefab homes:

    • Modular construction involves building sections of a home in a factory (modules), to then be transported and permanently affixed to land.
    • Kit homes involves preparing pre-cut materials in a factory, to then be delivered to site as a ‘kit’ for assembly and permanent affixture to land.

Benefits

  • With prefab homes you could:

    • Get into your property sooner due to productivity improvements made possible by factory-based technology, optimised labour and minimal on-site construction time.
    • Apply for financing through our normal construction loan.
    • Receive construction loan funds while the prefab home is being built at the factory, for build contracts up to $1.5 million

How it works

  • A loan for a prefab home follows a similar process to our standard construction loan. Your loan is  progressively funded throughout the build - however, there is a cap on the amount of funds that can be accessed during the offsite construction phase. 

  • To support customers looking to enter into a prefab build contract up to $1.5 million, CommBank offers construction financing while the prefab home is being built offsite. 

    Download our information sheet

Things to consider

    • By requesting progress payments prior to the prefab home being affixed to the land, the land will be used as the sole security up until the prefab home is transported to site. In the event of builder non-completion or liquidation prior to the prefab home being affixed to site, this may result in negative equity and you will still be required to repay the construction home loan.
    • Customer protections vary state to state across Australia in the event of builder liquidation, disappearance, or death prior to completion.
    • Before making a decision in relation to whether this type of construction arrangement and loan type is right for you, we recommend that you seek independent legal and financial advice, including advice about building warranty insurance or other insurances that may cover potential risks and impacts to your financial situation.

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Things you should know

  • Loan applications are subject to credit approval. Fees, charges, terms and conditions apply. As this advice has been prepared without considering your objectives, financial situation or needs, you should consider its appropriateness to your circumstances before acting on the advice.