Used temporary buildings for sale
Space that has to exist for a while and then stop mattering. Decants, works phasing, expansion and reinstatement all create the same problem, and buying a used building outright is frequently a better answer than a long recurring charge.
Why people need them
Four situations that produce the same enquiry
The details differ but the shape is identical: a known quantity of space, needed by a date, for a period measured in terms or phases rather than years.
School decants
A block comes out of use for refurbishment or rebuilding and the teaching has to carry on. The requirement is usually a whole academic year or more, which is exactly the point where hiring stops being the obvious choice.
Hospital and estate works
Clinics, offices and staff facilities displaced while a wing is worked on. Phasing tends to slip, so a unit you own outright removes one source of pressure from the programme.
Factory and warehouse expansion
Extra offices, messing or changing space while a permanent extension is designed, funded and built. Often the temporary building outlives the plan that justified it.
Flood or fire reinstatement
Trading, teaching or manufacturing has to resume before the unit is repaired. Tell us the date you are working to at the outset, because it changes which buildings are worth putting in front of you.
Buy or pay monthly
The arithmetic, without pretending to know your numbers
We are not going to publish figures for a decision that depends entirely on your circumstances. What we can set out is the shape of it, which is consistent across almost every enquiry we handle.
A monthly charge runs for as long as the unit stands, plus delivery and collection at each end. It buys you simplicity: someone else owns the asset, maintains it, and takes it away when you are done. For a genuinely short need that is hard to beat.
Buying is a single outlay with no recurring charge behind it. Against that you carry the maintenance, the insurance and the responsibility for getting rid of it afterwards. The pivot point is duration. Every additional month of paying adds cost; every additional month of ownership costs you nothing beyond upkeep. Somewhere in the middle the two lines cross, and for most decants and multi-phase works programmes they cross well before the end.
The part people forget is residual value. A building you pay for monthly leaves you with nothing at the end of the term. A bought unit is still an asset, and a sound one holds a real proportion of what you paid. That recovery is not guaranteed and depends on condition and the market at the time, but it is a genuine part of the calculation and it only exists on the buying side.
Getting it right
The order to make the decisions in
Most of the trouble on temporary building projects comes from doing these in the wrong sequence — usually settling the specification long before anyone has looked at where the unit will actually stand.
-
Define the period honestly
Not the optimistic programme date, the realistic one. This single number decides buying outright against paying monthly more than anything else, and temporary buildings almost always stay longer than first intended.
-
Confirm the position on the site
Most temporary buildings on an existing commercial, industrial, school or hospital site go in without any application at all. Where a unit will stand for years, or the site is a sensitive one, a short call to the council settles it before anything is ordered.
-
Survey the position and the access
Where exactly is it standing, what is the ground like, can a lorry get to it and can a lifting vehicle stand and reach. Photographs of the route in are worth more than a description of it.
-
Settle the specification
Floor area, room layout, heating, lighting and power, along with anything the way you intend to use it demands. Get this fixed before you buy rather than after, because changes are cheap in the yard and expensive on site.
-
Sort the base and the services
Level, load-bearing ground and a plan for power, water and drainage arriving where the building will be. Groundworks are the usual reason a delivery date slips.
-
Plan the exit at the start
Decide now whether you will keep it, sell it or clear it, and price accordingly. Deciding this at the end, under pressure, is how a residual asset turns into a disposal bill.
Duration
What temporary tends to mean in practice
- A single works phase. Months rather than weeks. Common on reinstatement, where the need is urgent and the end date genuinely known.
- An academic year. The standard school decant. Frequently extended into a second year when the main contract moves.
- A multi-phase programme. Two to five years is entirely normal on hospital estates and large industrial sites, and this is firmly buying territory.
- Indefinite. A great many buildings bought as temporary are still in daily use long afterwards, which is worth remembering when you set the specification.
When the need ends we can quote to buy the unit back, or to clear it. See portable building removal for lifting and taking away, modular building disposal for buildings past saving, and unit valuation if you would rather know what it is worth first.
Comparing options? Look at second hand portable buildings for single units, or used modular buildings where you need open-plan width.
What are you looking for?
What is standing in the yard changes from week to week, so the useful conversation starts with what you need rather than with a list. Describe the size, the layout and where it is going, and we will tell you what we can supply, in what condition, and what the building and the transport each cost.
Have something to trade in? Tick the part exchange box. A building coming the other way usually improves the arithmetic in both directions.
- Two figures — the building and the haulage — so you can see what you are paying for
- Refurbishment to your specification before delivery is usually possible
- Part exchange welcome — a building coming the other way is part of the deal
Common questions
Used temporary buildings, answered
Is it better to buy a temporary building or pay a monthly charge for one?
It turns on how long you need it. A recurring monthly charge suits a few weeks and hands the risk to someone else. Once a requirement stretches across a whole academic year or a multi-phase construction programme, buying used starts to look sensible, because the building keeps a residual value at the end that a recurring charge never does.
What happens to the unit when I have finished with it?
Three realistic routes. Keep it, because most sites find a second use once the original need has passed. Sell it on, either privately or back to a dealer. Or have it removed and disposed of if it has reached the end of its life. We can quote for buying it back or clearing it when the time comes.
Do I need planning permission for a temporary building?
Usually not. Most temporary buildings going onto an existing commercial, industrial, school or hospital site do not need an application. It is worth a call to your local planning authority where the unit will stand for a long period or the site is a sensitive one. We supply and deliver the buildings themselves rather than making applications.
How quickly can a temporary building be on site?
The unit already exists, so the constraints are your base, your access and our transport schedule rather than a factory build slot. Tell us when you need it and we will tell you honestly what can be ready by then.
Can it be reconfigured for a different use later?
Usually. Partitions, doors, flooring and finishes are all changeable, and a building bought as a classroom decant frequently ends its life as an office or a store. Structural width is the thing you cannot alter, so it is worth buying slightly more space than the first use strictly needs.
What condition are used temporary buildings in?
It varies enormously and we describe each one individually rather than applying a grade. Much of the stock has come off construction projects or education estates where it was maintained properly, so sound examples are common. We refurbish what is worth refurbishing before delivery and say plainly when something is not.
Tell us how long you need it for
The realistic duration, the floor area and the postcode. That is usually enough for us to say whether buying used makes sense for you and what we can supply.