48 | Sector Focus: Cladding & Shingles
SUMMARY
■Timber cladding remained in high demand, through the pandemic to date
■Howarth transitioned away from Siberian and focused on western larch
■Sustainability is an additional sales driver
■Cladding is now widely used in new builds as well as home renovations
CLADDING CUSTOMER CAPTURING THE
Howarth sees prospects for growing cladding sales through range development and emphasising the product’s capacity to enhance a property’s aesthetics, sustainability and value. Martin Fennell, Howarth Dewsbury branch manager, reports
The large scale shift to home-working during the pandemic has put down permanent roots, resulting in ongoing investment in garden offices. The trend was given a further boost by rising property prices through 2021/22 as householders saw developing garden areas adding value to their properties. And even with house prices now declining, we see momentum in this area going forward, as owners now see a garden office helping their home stand out from the crowd. The upturn in home remodelling and renovating, which began in the health crisis, also continues, with consumers investing in their houses as live-work spaces rather than trying to move in today’s tightening and unpredictable property market.
Above: Howarth’s Thermo clear pine cladding was chosen for this new build development TTJ | January/February 2023 |
www.ttjonline.com
Both these trends, developing home office space and upgrading properties, have seen timber cladding remain in high demand at Howarth through the pandemic to date. As with most building materials, weather plays a part in cladding consumption and the mild winter saw a lot of demand through to November. Thankfully, pricing for many of our timber products has also practically returned to pre-pandemic levels, and availability on most items is excellent. Given the current tightening of retail spending (due to higher mortgage/debt servicing costs, combined with rapidly rising energy prices), households are now prioritising their spending. But we see that actually further incentivising development of garden space and conversion to usable accommodation.
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