MMC 52pp M10 WEB

Offsite
Offsite homes
en masse for
the masses
It’s no secret that housebuilding needs to increase in the UK. It is currently estimated that a total of 250,000 homes need to be
delivered each year in order to tackle spiralling house prices and the critical shortage of affordable homes. Year on year to date,
this target has consistently been missed - with figures showing that only 184,000 homes were completed in England in 2016/17.
Joe Bradbury of MMC Magazine discusses:
Akey aspect to the problem is that
developers in possession of large sites
often only release a small amount of
homes at a time, as slowing the pace of
building affords them the opportunity to
capitalise on the value of their assets. This
results in local authorities looking to reclaim
and manage the construction of new homes.
Councils have largely been removed from
housebuilding since the conservative
government came into power in 1979, where
private construction rose, but not by enough to
compensate for the fall in public sector
building.
A cynic could be forgiven for posing the
question “what have local authorities been
doing all this time?” Council advisers argue in
defence that they been exploring ways of
getting back into housebuilding after decades
of being removed. Both Labour and Liberal
Democrats have historically argued in support
of the state to once again commission and
build new homes. Nevertheless, conservatives
insist on austerity and warn that they need to
be cautious about the state getting involved in
housebuilding - stating that the country must
live within its means in order to survive and
thrive in a modern financial climate.
It is clear that if the state reclaims house
building then cost effective methods of building
will have to be utilised.
14 MMC
Nov 2018 M10
Offsite construction provides
the solution
Using offsite construction would allow the
government to deliver houses faster and at a
lower cost.
It has been stated that a main factor holding up
housebuilding in the short term, is a lack of
materials. The surge in demand in late 2013
and early 2014 led to a decrease in availability
of traditional materials such as bricks. This
paved the way for prefabricated materials like
timber and steel to be used in housebuilding.
Regardless of whether the state takes on
housebuilding or if it is left to private house
builders, the benefits of offsite construction
are undoubtedly crucial to meeting targets
which have to date been repeatedly missed.
Offsite construction provides housebuilders
with programme certainty and quality though
simplification of site operations and reduced
weather dependencies due to the controlled
factory-based assembly process. Houses
delivered through offsite construction offer
enhanced specification standards and build
quality which reduces occupancy costs related
to energy use, defects and repairs. There is
significant evidence that suggests that the use
of offsite construction has been successful
when applied to meet the needs of significant
housing developments at scale with
consequential opportunities for standardisation
of design details - particularly to meet the
need of government led programmes.
Consider the environment
‘The Waste and Resources Action Programme’
posit that offsite construction practices
generate up to 90% less waste than more
traditional building methods. This is because a
factory is a much more controlled environment
than a traditional building site - throwing far
fewer variables into the mix.
Offsite and modular construction is much less
energy intensive than traditional
housebuilding. The carbon footprint left by the
many construction vehicles and machinery on
the site of a traditional construction project
alone is considerably larger than that of
modular construction. Fewer vehicles involved
and less time spent on site results in fewer
emissions and a vastly reduced carbon
footprint as an industry.
Offsite offers fast and affordable solution to a
modern crisis, and with the UK Environment
Agency and other government bodies putting
increasing pressure on construction companies
to reduce pollution and conform to
environmental regulations, it may be a shift in
practice that happens regardless of anybody’s
stance on the subject. Ask yourself; are you
ready for offsite?