Is it possible to import an HTML file as a string with TypeScript?

You can do this now:

import "template.html";

@Component({
  selector: 'home',
  directives: [RouterLink],
  template:  require("template.html"),
})

this will include “template.html” to the dependencies list of your component and then you can bundle it with your builder (actually, it makes more sense with amd)

However, as you were suggested, it’s better to use webpack.

Take a look at this starter pack

UPDATE now you can declare an html module like so:

declare module "*.html" {
    const content: string;
    export default content;
}

and use it like so:

import * as template from "template.html";

@Component({
  selector: 'home',
  directives: [RouterLink],
  template: template
})