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The introduction of the Future Homes Standard this year will also strengthen the case for timber construction systems due to its superior thermal and carbon performance. Finally, the government’s attempts to upskill and enlarge the labour force could also bear fruit for our sector through the creation of Skills England to co-ordinate vocational training. It’s too early to tell, but there is certainly a lot of work going on to review current curriculums and skills provision.
David Hopkins Timber Development UK chief executive
Most of us will have been pleased to see the back of 2024 as the sense of stagnation and sluggishness was felt from Downing Street to the High Street.
We must show that the timber
industry is essential to deliver on the government’s house building mission. They must know that, with lightweight timber frame systems, we can deliver the high-quality, low-carbon housing we all want – right now – while improving productivity throughout the supply chain
This was compounded internationally as elections were held in every major nation on earth, including our own, meaning companies kept their powder dry hoping the outlook would be sunnier on the other side of the polling booth. Sadly, this hasn’t been the case. For most people, elections have not immediately brought the hoped-for injection of energy back into people’s lives.
In fact, if you believe some of the press coverage, you might be thinking that last year’s mantra of ‘survive until 25’ is now going to be ‘stagnate until 28’. However, I refuse to be that gloomy. There are still some very good signs in the year ahead. Despite the negative messaging, some of the government actions have been quite positive, albeit with a longer-term vision than a short-term sugar rush.
The attempts to increase investment in infrastructure, especially housing, transport, energy and broadband will be key to improving productivity growth. Moves to streamline planning, a major barrier to growth, are very welcome, along with ambitious targets for housing, whether realistic or not!
So, at least we can say the ambition is there, and the positive mood from the Financial Times’ survey of economists and business leaders suggest that the UK will outgrow its peers in France and Germany. However, there is still much that can go wrong in this analysis. The return of President Trump to the White House is likely to bring a great deal of instability and trade disruption, not least through his stated plan to introduce tariffs on all goods. However, within Britain itself, I think the outlook is far stronger than some of the mood music may suggest. What will be key, is that the industry is prepared to powerfully make the case on why we should all build with wood. We must show that the timber industry is essential to deliver on the government’s house building mission. They must know that, with lightweight timber frame systems, we can deliver the high-quality, low-carbon housing we all want – right now – while improving productivity throughout the supply chain.
Timber Development UK (TDUK), together with the Structural Timber Association (STA), and Confederation of Forest Industries (Confor) – through our work as joint secretariat of the Timber in Construction Roadmap – will be ensuring that timber is front of mind for the government and politicians of all stripes and colours during the year.
Making sure we can communicate the benefits of timber – as a low carbon material and low energy manufacturing base – will be particularly important in the next few months ahead of the Industrial Strategy, which is due in the spring. We have some really exciting initiatives in the coming months, which aim to do exactly that. Keep an eye out for more news and announcements from TDUK – both on our website, and through our friends, such as the TTJ. ■
www.ttjonline.com | January/February 2025 | TTJ
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