The last few months have seen the government-backed drive to increase the use of modern construction methods suffer a series of blows. In February, Your Housing Group walked away from a joint venture with the China National Building Materials Company (CNBM) that was supposed to be producing 25,000 homes a year by 2022, while more recently insurance giant L&G has spoken about some of the problems that have caused a two-year delay in producing homes from its purpose-built modular housing factory.

Then, last month, the Environmental Audit Committee released a report calling on the government to stall its investment in modular housing because of claims some buildings can overheat in hot weather.

For those with a memory that stretches back before the credit crunch, some of this sounds eerily familiar. The 1998 Egan report inspired a drive to mechanise construction, which foundered as proponents of traditional build hit back and newly-developed technologies encountered the cold, hard reality of the UK housebuilding market. Ultimately, the credit crunch saw factories, such as Taylor Wimpey’s Prestoplan timber frame facility, close as production lines stood empty for lack of demand. 

“Some of this is about the masonry industry defending its patch. Until recently, it’s been so niche they haven’t had to bother. Now it’s a threat”

Darren Richards, Cogent

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