The Structural Timber Association (STA) has welcomed today’s Autumn Budget and the news that the Government is set to provide more than £5 billion of investment to underline its commitment to building 1.5 million homes in the next five years.
In the first budget from the new Labour Government, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced a significant boost for the UK’s affordable homes programme, increasing this to £3.1 billion, along with £3 billion worth of guarantees to increase the supply of homes and support the country’s smaller housebuilders. The move will facilitate the construction of tens of thousands of new homes and will “give more people a safe, secure and affordable place to live”.
Andrew Carpenter, CEO of the STA commented: “This is welcome news indeed and the structural timber sector is poised to support delivery of these plans. We applaud the focus on social housing, as well as the recognition that planning can be an obstacle in housing growth. The news that the Government will set out to recruit hundreds more planning officers should go a long way to alleviating that issue.
“Overall, this is a good starting point from which the industry can move forwards, but we would urge the Government not to miss the huge opportunity that is presented by aligning house building ambitions with the country’s pressing environmental challenges. With such high targets, achieving this rapid upscaling while also meeting net zero obligations will require a fundamental change in how we build, the materials we use, and the way we attract new people into the construction industry.
“Increasing the use of sustainable materials such as timber and adopting efficient offsite construction methods is the best solution to delivering the Government’s aspirations. Looking ahead, we would welcome adoption of the proposed Part Z to the Building Regulations to further support reduction in embodied carbon, leading to more low carbon sustainable homes.”
Offsite manufacture and low carbon structural timber has an essential role to play in helping the Government deliver its target of 1.5 million homes in the next five years.
Indeed, there is existing capacity in the established structural timber manufacturing sector to achieve 100,000 homes per annum, quickly reaching almost a third of the annual house building target.
Structural timber offers significant savings in time and resources; building a timber frame house can be up to 50% quicker than that of masonry construction, while the time taken to make a house weather-tight, is between 6-10 weeks shorter.
The industry has a remarkable opportunity right now to build more sustainable homes at an accelerated pace. The structural timber industry has long had the capacity to deliver these homes, and recent investments further strengthen this capability.
With commitment from the UK Government, we can effectively tackle the practical challenges related to housing and sustainability. We have the facilities and the demand, and now we need to build.
To learn more about building in structural timber, please visit: www.structuraltimber.co.uk
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