So the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) is launching a drive to boost the private rental sector. As residential property prices fall, rental yields are starting to look more attractive to investors and pension funds, so the opportunity is there for the taking

However, the fact remains that the housing shortage is real and growing by the day – a situation exacerbated by the credit crunch and rendered more problematic by the fact that since the war the traditional housebuilding industry has proven incapable of building more than 150,000 homes a year.

If we are to build large numbers of rental properties, we need to do it quickly and effectively. It has been a while in the making, but surely all these signs are indicative of the off-site industry coming of age.

Homes must be better designed if we are to sustain the property market for future generations, and given the benefits presented by both the product and construction process it facilitates, off-site technology is capable of not only improving construction as a practice but ultimately improving the quality and sustainability of the finished building.

Adopted on a wider scale, the off-site industry has the ability to turn a best practice model into the norm – delivering tangible benefits right across the supply chain from initial design to end user. And it offers a quicker and higher return on investment … there’s not many out there who would turn their nose up at that.

Michael Martin, McAvoy Offsite Building Solutions

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