Lords call on government to boost offsite construction

Members of the House of Lords have warned the government must boost offsite construction or the UK will fail to meet its housing need.

In a report published today, the Lords’ Science and Technology Committee suggested attaching conditions to grant funding to housing associations in order to drive the uptake of offsite manufacturing and other new technologies.

Richard Harrington, minister for infrastructure and construction at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, told the committee that he was “seeing Homes England” about attaching such conditions.

The report said that offsite construction can improve productivity in construction by up to 70% and reduce labour demands.

It also praised offsite for its ability to improve the quality and efficiency of buildings and to reduce the environmental impacts associated with traditional construction.

Lord Patel, chair of the committee, said: “The construction sector’s business models are no longer appropriate and are not supporting the UK’s urgent need for new homes and infrastructure.

“The construction sector needs to build more trust and create partnerships so that companies can work together to improve the uptake of offsite manufacture, and the Construction Leadership Council should provide the necessary leadership.”

The committee wanted this council to help the government to close the skills gap for offsite manufacturing, as well as helping the construction sector to collaborate to address the fragmentation problem faced by offsite manufacturing.

The report praised the government’s commitment at the Autumn Budget 2017 to a “presumption in favour” of offsite manufacturing, and its recent commitment to invest in offsite in the Construction Sector Deal.

It recommended that the government develop and publish a series of key performance indicators against which the success of this presumption can be assessed.

It also advised that if this presumption is set aside and a project goes ahead using traditional methods, the government should publish a statement justifying this decision.

Accreditation of homes built using offsite manufacturing has been a difficulty for builders, with lenders often being unsure about valuations given the lack of a proven track record for offsite construction.

The committee recommended that the government explore options for such accreditation specifically aimed at homes built using offsite manufacturing.

Original link - Inside Housing