The principle sounds simple: walls, ceilings and roof elements are pre-produced in a factory, loaded onto trucks, taken to the construction site and assembled into the shell in just a few days. Thanks to prefabricated construction, your home can be built within just a few days.
It sounds like the perfect all-round, worry-free package - and is correspondingly popular: in 2025, every fourth new single or two-family house in Germany was a prefabricated house.
Just like Achim and Alexandra's new home. They originally wanted to build massively and with a freelance architect, but quickly realized that it would be significantly more expensive than the first calculation suggested. That's why they ultimately decided on a prefabricated house - primarily because of the planning, energy efficiency and a clear price structure.
Every detail planned
Nevertheless, the decision was not easy; the couple compared numerous providers. Two and a half years have now passed since the property was purchased. "It's no use if a company is 10,000 euros cheaper in the overall calculation, but in the end you still have to pay 25,000 euros for a photovoltaic system," says Achim.
The assembly of the shell only takes a few days, depending on the size of the house; First the roof is put on. This has the advantage that the house is closed and therefore weatherproof. The interior work can then continue relatively quickly.
The couple had to make countless decisions for this too: every socket, every step, every tile was determined in advance. Done doesn't mean that everything is the same. What the manufacturer ultimately delivers is still very individual.
Construction takes place all year round
The prefabricated house provider Schwörer Haus builds around 800 to 1,000 such prefabricated houses every year. Here, external and internal walls, ceiling and roof elements are manufactured in the factory in order to reduce material consumption and thus keep prices lower.
According to construction expert Tobias Beuler, this has the advantage that construction can also be carried out in winter, and there are largely no breaks in the weather as in solid construction. For families who are still paying rent and want to move in as quickly as possible, this can be worth money: "But if I can get in three to four months faster, then I'll save three or four times the rent."
Around 3,000 euros per square meter
Johannes Schwoerer is the second generation to run the family business Schwoerer Haus. Around 1,800 people work here - according to the Federal Association of German Prefabricated Buildings with its 50 member companies, there were more than 13,000 people in the entire industry last year.
Prefabricated houses also score points with builders because of their prices. Swürer emphasizes that these depend primarily on the size of the house and the design of the rooms: "Roughly speaking, we are around 3,000 euros per square meter. That means that for a 100 square meter house with a basement I am around 300,000 euros."
Many details are already included in the “basic price”, such as white plastic windows with triple glazing and electric shutters. If you want different colors or larger window elements, you pay extra. The same applies to darker roof tiles, special front doors, more elegant stairs, seamless bathrooms or designer fittings. The price of a prefabricated house ultimately depends on several factors: front door and living space, floor plan and number of rooms, level of expansion and interior design. Only then will a realistic total be achieved in the end.
What is included in the basic price?
Tobias Beuler says that there are "basically two categories of prefabricated house companies": "One is those that focus on mass production and therefore have a cheaper price. But this also means that the quality is not quite as high as that of boutique providers or engineer-run prefabricated house companies."
He recommends that builders of prefabricated houses should budget 3,000 to 4,000 euros per square meter for good quality. It is particularly important to check what is included in the basic price. While higher basic prices offer features such as floor coverings, interior doors or sanitary objects, low-cost providers sometimes eliminate these completely. In addition, land, earthworks, sewer connections and all additional construction costs are never part of the basic price.
If the fixed price suddenly no longer applies
And that's exactly where the second cost trap with prefabricated houses lurks - in addition to higher-quality equipment: the additional construction costs. This includes the earthworks, the floor slab, connections, drainage, lifting system or cistern. According to Tobias Beuler, they are often set far too low in offers in order to make the overall price appear attractive.
Alex and Sabrina experienced this painfully. Your 256 square meter prefabricated house was actually declared with a fixed price. But the construction time is now two months longer than originally planned and the price has also increased. The "fixed price", they were told, only applied to the house from the top of the floor slab, not to everything around it.
“Compared to the construction cost statement that we received before we signed the contract, it is now 150,000 euros more,” says Alex. For example, the price for the lifting system rose from 1,500 to 17,000 euros, the cistern became 3,000 euros more expensive, and there are also costs for the civil engineer.
A problem for Alex and Sabrina: The prefabricated house largely comes from a single source. However, the civil engineering works separately - but the lines and connections still have to fit together in the end. It was precisely at this interface that problems arose. Providers who calculate particularly cheaply often have no financial buffer for such cases, says construction expert Tobias Beuler.
Involve experts early on
He therefore advises: If you involve an independent expert early on, you should pay less than 1,000 euros for an initial commercial audit and between 5,000 and 10,000 euros for accompanying construction site inspections - but in the end, if in doubt, you could save many times over. Especially if other entrepreneurs are involved in addition to the prefabricated house company. The more companies involved in a construction project, the more important clear agreements are. Especially when it comes to house connections, drainage or earthworks, it should be clear before construction where the responsibility of one trade ends and that of the next begins.
And it's not just the responsibilities that are important - the payment methods are also important. Some companies, for example, require large down payments, which are only offset against the final installment. Once the money has been paid out, it is almost impossible to keep anything if there are defects, warns the expert Beuler. Others would entice you with “payment only when the house is handed over”, but would link this to guarantees, which in turn cost extra. “It is very important to look at the details and check the building description,” says Beuler.
The expert emphasizes: If you take the time for this preliminary planning, get independent advice, compare several providers and understand the small print, you can buy a prefabricated house. Because it is faster, easier to plan and often more energy efficient than a solid house. On the other hand, if you sign too quickly, you run the risk of your dream home turning into an expensive dispute.
