Structural timber has a vital role to play in hitting housing targets, what we need now is more collaboration with housebuilders to realise the benefits of this approach
The Structural Timber Association welcomes the Farmer Review and its frank report into the major challenges the construction industry faces today. Although it may be a surprise to some that the report pulls no punches, few should be shocked by its findings.
The Farmer Review has outlined a pathway to building sufficient housing for UK residents, overcoming the skills shortage and revolutionising the sector to enable it to meet modern demands. And not unsurprisingly, the structural timber sector sees itself as integral to achieving this.
Farmer identifies that there must be a much greater focus on premanufacture; an area that has been dominated by the timber sector for many years.
The Structural Timber Association would welcome the opportunity to collaborate further with housebuilders and developers and we encourage them to share their plans
We wholeheartedly agree that change needs to be led by clients expressly changing their needs and commissioning behaviour or by government driving positive disruption.
In the housebuilding market in particular, the Structural Timber Association would welcome the opportunity to collaborate further with housebuilders and developers and we encourage them to share their plans to allow the structural timber frame supply chain to prepare plans for design, manufacture and delivery.
And there is evidence of an increasing propensity for major house developers and contractors to collaborate in this manner and utilise the inherent benefits of structural timber frame. An example of this is contractor Willmott Dixon and Robertson Timber Engineering partnering to provide 1,000 offsite homes a year.
The structural timber frame sector has significant growth potential, with capacity to double its output if, and when, required due to years of significant investment in automated factory based manufacturing processes, which alleviate reliance on skilled tradespeople onsite.
Ideal for the current construction climate where an increase in output capacity is greatly desired, it is significantly easier and quicker to upskill those seeking a factory based role, providing an almost immediate solution, as opposed to the several years of training required for onsite trades.
Furthermore, in times of uncertainty, surety is a valuable commodity. Timber is a readily available sustainable material that can easily meet industry demands whereas other “traditional build materials” have recently and consistently suffered supply shortages.
Growing rapidly, experiencing a 10% market share increase since 2004 and now used in over 27% of new build homes across the UK, structural timber frame offers an efficient, quick and high quality solution to the current housing crisis.
Reducing the build time of a property by about 30% and removing the weather as an unpredictable variable in the construction process, structural timber frame offers the increase in productivity the construction sector greatly needs.
By harnessing offsite construction methods, there is potential to achieve much more and the industry must come together to create a positive environment for change. This was recently highlighted by Suzannah Nichol, at the Structural Timber Association AGM who said: “We can be smarter, better and more efficient. If we have the will to change, we can all win together.”
Andrew Carpenter, chief executive of the Structural Timber Association
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