What a Modular Home
Actually Costs in Ireland

There is no single sticker price — the cost is a stack of FOB factory price, sea freight, import duty, VAT, delivery, groundworks, craning and services connection. The unit itself ranges from around €8,995 FOB for an entry-level structural shell to €65,000 FOB for a fully-loaded high-end 40FT with furniture and integrated solar. FOB (Free On Board) is the price at the Chinese port — on top of it you add freight, Irish import duty and VAT at 23%, inland delivery and the Irish-side site works. A comparably specified finished, installed unit still typically lands 25–45% below an Irish-built equivalent, which runs €110,000 to €180,000 for a finished 2-bed of 32–45 m². Every quote is built against your specific site and brief.

The single biggest budgeting mistake is comparing a factory price against a finished home. The costs most buyers overlook are: the foundation or slab (typically €3,000–€9,000 depending on ground conditions), the crane lift to place the unit (€800–€2,500 depending on access and reach), connecting water, drainage and electricity from the principal house (€2,000–€8,000 depending on distance and whether trenching crosses hard landscaping), and the BER assessment and certificate (€300–€500). Ériu Modular Homes itemises all of these in writing with every quote so there is no surprise after the container lands.

Because a modular home is a project, not a product on a shelf. Two identical units can differ by €15,000 or more once site access, ground conditions, services distance, finish tier and county are factored in. A fixed online price would either be padded to cover the worst case or would mislead buyers whose sites cost more to work. We publish indicative ranges so you can budget realistically, then build an exact quote against your site survey and brief.

The tier prices published on this page are FOB (Free On Board) — the unit at the Chinese port, before Irish import duty and VAT. Your quote then itemises everything added on top: sea freight, customs duty (typically low on prefabricated buildings), import VAT at 23%, and inland delivery — so you see exactly how the FOB unit price becomes your landed cost. VAT-registered buyers can reclaim import VAT through their normal VAT return or defer it using Postponed VAT Accounting. We confirm the duty and VAT treatment for your specific unit before you commit.

The structural shell of a modular home is the single largest cost line, and it is the line where factory-direct sourcing from Henan Province delivers the biggest saving — the same steel-frame and expandable container home factories that supply the German, Dutch and French markets. Freight, duty and VAT add cost back, but the net position on a comparably specified unit is typically 25–45% below an Irish-built equivalent. The groundworks, craning and services connection costs are broadly the same whoever supplies the unit, because that work happens in Ireland either way.

Ériu Modular Homes works on a staged payment structure tied to project milestones — a deposit to confirm the order and begin factory production, a payment before the unit ships from China, and a balance on installation and handover in Ireland. This is standard for imported modular construction and means you are never paying for a stage that has not been reached. We do not provide finance directly; some buyers fund the project through a home improvement loan or equity release, and most mortgage lenders will not lend against a second self-contained dwelling on the same title — a point worth confirming with your lender early.

No — it is the opposite. The 3-day China factory visit costs from approximately €1,800 per person, and that full amount is credited against your confirmed order. If you visit and then proceed, the visit effectively costs nothing. It is a way to verify the factory and sign off your specification in person before committing, not an add-on to the build cost.