LHC is leading the way in connecting public sector to the world of offsite construction. Gary Ramsay spoke to Director John Skivington about exciting times ahead for the organisation and why offsite manufacture is high on its list of priorities.
It may not feel like it but procurement specialist LHC has been around for 50 years – stretching all the way back to include 1966 – the last year the UK managed to build 300,000 plus homes.
For those unfamiliar with what LHC does, the organisation delivers a ‘simple core service’ that brings buyers and suppliers closer together to streamline the delivery of refurbished and hew housing. “We are a not-for-profit, public procurement consortium that helps local authorities, housing associations and registered social landlords with their procurement activity,” says John. “Our overall aim has always been to improve the quality of housing but our mission today is also to work with our clients to help them procure more efficiently and our procurement frameworks have been designed to streamline the process.”
The frameworks develop a best practice specification that allows local authorities and housing associations to access better products and suppliers across the entire construction supply chain. “We establish contracts – or the frameworks – on aggregated demand,” says John. “That large collaborative, volume demand enables us to identify the best solutions and specifications for our clients, so that they can access contractors directly without having to go through the whole exercise themselves.”
LHC’s NH1 framework came out in 2014 and is specifically for newbuild offsite housing. After being involved for many years in refurbishment and improving existing housing stock, LHC are working with clients starting to think about increasing their own housing supply. “That’s what lead us to develop the NH1 framework,” adds John. “Local authorities, councils and housing associations all recognised they needed to build more themselves. It was very clear. So we were asked to put together a specific offsite framework so they could access a range of factory-made solutions.”
Offsite has never seemed so popular. The Government’s housing white paper – Fixing our Broken Housing Market – was published in February, essentially outlining how the Government hopes to solve a problem that has been generations in the making. It was hugely encouraging to see that offsite construction and factory controlled manufacture were flagged up as core to solving the housing crisis. Has the time arrived for offsite manufacture to prove what it can do on a grand scale?
“I thought the white paper had lots of positive messages,” says John “Offsite is being recognised as an important part of the answer to the UK’s housing problems and the concept of ‘accelerating construction’ that the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) are driving is essential. One big positive from the white paper is that the Government has recognised that speed of delivery is critical and that the building industry really needs to modernise. Offsite methods are a huge contributor to that.”
With Government targets of 250,000 new homes a year required to meet demographic demands, these numbers have to be achieved otherwise the housing crisis will continue ad infinitum. “That number is totally demand-driven,” says John. “There are lots of things that need to be done at the same time to achieve those numbers. We can’t solely rely on the major housebuilders to deliver bigger housing numbers. They just can’t build all the homes required. So it is not just about offsite construction or engaging more SMEs or improving the planning system. These all need to happen together at the same time. The housebuilding industry needs to tackle these collectively to modernise the ways things are delivered. It’s a big ask but I think it can be done.”
Offsite is often burdened by failures of the past – the stigma of post WW2 temporary ‘prefabs’ seems to still linger for many, but advanced 21st Century offsite manufacture and its many technological advances are here to stay. Do they still persist in public sector circles? “We are way beyond that kind of poor prefabrication and poor quality,” says John. “Councils and local authorities are needing to rethink offsite totally and how it has transformed into advanced manufacturing. Those are the terms we need to start using. We do have a job to do with speaking to councils about the ‘modern’ aspect of offsite and the added qualities it delivers.”
Encouraging news for the future is that local authorities and housing associations are approaching LHC more and more wanting to know about offsite manufacture. Here LHC plays an influential educational role. “Clients come to us saying they need to increase housing supply and one of the ways they want to do it is by using offsite but need to understand it more,” says John.
“We feel it is our duty to promote the use of offsite generally throughout the whole industry and explain the key values and drivers to better building performance. Our big message is that it’s not just about speeding up the process of housebuilding but it’s also about high quality. Not all local authorities or housing associations are totally tuned into what offsite does. There are some fantastic advocates and champions of offsite peppered around the industry. Scotland of course is a very well developed in understanding panelised timber frame and historically recognises what factory-controlled manufacture can do. So we have to use that network of champions to drive the industry forward and use their experience.”
With the housing market seemingly ready – and desperately in need – of offsite methods, LHC is working with BRE to create an Offsite Housing Innovation Centre within the familiar surroundings of the BRE Innovation Park. This will assist with promoting offsite construction and focus exclusively on educating and demonstrating the benefits of offsite to the public sector and hopefully fill some of the gaps in knowledge about how offsite systems, materials and various product suppliers can help.
“We want people to really understand what offsite offers,” adds John. “The Innovation Centre is part of our wider promotion of offsite. BRE have a history of supporting offsite so we are working with them on a facility to demonstrate and walk people through the offsite process – a story board – the plan is to build on BRE’s experience and use LHC’s expertise to set up a focal point to learn about offsite. It’s important for us to explain the differences between offsite and ‘traditional’ onsite construction and the implications for the whole housebuilding process – whether it be the identification of land, planning, property design or maintenance schedules – there is a big story to tell.
“It is critical for us to impress on our clients that they need to understand the offsite process. If a local authority is trying to drop a modular system into a traditional design and build template it is going to potentially fail, so our view is to educate as much as we can. One problem to overcome is that housebuilding today is often down to the experience and quality of the site managers, who are brilliant at building homes from 20,000 parts over nine months site time, but when those same site managers are faced with installing an offsite system it can be a problem. So that is where we are with the Innovation Centre. Our ultimate aim is to illustrate the best use of offsite as an end-to-end process.”
As LHC heads into 2017 and beyond, they are busier than ever. With a national focus on offsite manufacture, the plan is to make sure every social landlord in the UK has knowledge about offsite and to broaden minds when it comes to housebuilding. “Long term we feel that more housebuilding will come prefabricated – there is no doubt about that,” says John. “But it is important that we get more SMEs involved in the housebuilding process. Public sector in particular has many small urban sites – up to 10 units – that are ripe for development and offer a great opportunity for modular construction. In 2017 we have to ensure that we have a procurement vehicle that encourages SMEs to engage with the housing marketplace. Improving supply is critical.”
For more information on the work of LHC visit: www.lhc.gov.uk
Source: Offsite Magazine - Issue 5
