10 NEWS FEATURE Returning to nearly normal


Ross Baxter of Saint-Gobain Off -Site Solutions gives some good news on the supply of standard timber products, in the light of Housebuilder & Developer research on demand in the sector.


P


asquill, part of the Saint-Gobain Off-Site Solutions’ division and the largest supplier of trussed rafters in the UK, supported Housebuilder & Developer’s latest survey – exploring the key criteria housebuilders have when sourcing a timber supplier The report cited availability, price, and the capacity to deliver as high priorities. In some instances, many considered lead times to be a higher priority than health and safety or sustainability concerns. Now, with encouraging signs over the last quarter, as availability of standard timber products continues to ease, Saint- Gobain Off-Site Solutions has examined the fi ndings from the survey, which help inform how we can continue to support customers with their project requirements.


LOOKING BACK


The overnment’s  industrial strategy, which continues to encourage the industry to ‘build, build, build’ (and in particular the Construction Sector Deal; a £420m commitment to build new homes faster), has placed pressure on the construction industry to respond at pace. In line with this increase in new build


projects, suppliers to the housebuilding industry witnessed a disproportionate increase in demand for product between 2021-2022. According to the Builders Merchants’ Federation (BMF), “the value of sales increased by almost 18% at the start of 2022, in comparison to the same period in 2021.” Initially, this led to product shortages and longer lead times in some instances. with the impact felt by builders, contractors and developers working on self-build, new build, renovation, and extension projects. At the time, Pasquill, as with other responsible supply chain partners,


adapted to this upsurge in demand, increasing stocks of timber products used for roof trusses and fl oor oists. This ensured we could continue to supply our roof and fl oor solutions consistently, within the lead times required by customers year-round and nationwide. As demand has now returned to the levels the industry is more accustomed to, housebuilders can capitalise on a more readily available supply that has been built up during this peak demand period. We have certainly experienced an easing of these stock issues during the last quarter, which was backed up by the Construction Leadership Council’s (CLC) report in August 2022. It states that “construction materials shortage is now easing slightly with product availability improving across most categories.” It continues to explain that “extremely high levels of demand seen at the beginning of 2022 has eased, as has the shortage of HGV drivers in late 2021. Goods are reportedly now moving more freely between ports, although the CLC reports that only 25 per cent of goods from the far east are arriving on time.” The market is still eperiencing some challenges in lead time with specialist timber products, but the standard timber products used extensively on housebuilding projects remain in good supply.


LOOKING FORWARD


A quick Google search will reveal a variety of viewpoints on the availability of construction materials and


WWW.HBDONLINE.CO.UK


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92