VIEWPOINT ALL FOR ONE BUT NOT ONE FOR ALL?
Chris Stanley, housing manager, Modern Masonry looks at the attitudes that need to change, and how, to keep the industry strong in the uncertain months ahead...
THERE’S NO AMBIGUITY about the fact the UK is in the grips of a housing crisis and the need for increasing the number of new starts is pressing. Back in November 2017, when Philip Hammond announced the new targets, he himself admitted there would not be one magic bullet to solve the problem. His words implied everyone across the housebuilding sector would have to pull together.
As such, you would have thought the approach would be to inspire hearts and minds across the whole construction industry, yet the government’s actions suggest otherwise. While we’re falling short of meeting those targets (300,000 new starts a year), there is a concerted push for one type of construction in favour of others, namely off-site.
While off-site is among the range of systems we have at our disposal, it is not the definitive answer to current problems. In my view it’s inefficient and misguided to put all our eggs in one basket. Plenty of media excitement exists around modular housing, but the only reason this type of building technique is receiving so much attention is because of favourable government funding schemes. This attitude needs to change.
Style over substance There are some short-term benefits to building modular homes, which is why the government has aggressively backed it as a construction method. It can reduce labour costs and the overall time a development takes from start to finish, but investing in offsite manufacturing is still at an early stage and capital costs are high. The government could be said to be twisting the arm of the
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developers, promising funding with the caveat that it has to be spent on modular. Companies such as Ilke Homes and Project Etopia claim to be able to produce 2,000 units a year (or, 18 a day). We are yet to see evidence to back this up.
To offer some context, by comparison, around 85% of new build housing is currently achieved with masonry construction. The sector as it stands, is more than capable of absorbing the 85% of the current shortfall (80,000), Furthermore, masonry is not at high risk with regard to Brexit, as most of the constituent materials are sourced and manufactured within the UK.
Material matters We have a tendency to believe that progress is linear and to assume that things are better simply for the fact of being new. This is just one of a whole host of misconceptions which urgently need to be overturned.
Masonry has been the primary building material for the majority of our houses for centuries. In contrast, most of the post-war construction boom modular dwellings, such as the Airey houses from the 50s and 60s, are no longer inhabitable. In this, I’m by no means suggesting that techniques haven’t evolved since. However we should be careful not to repeat past mistakes, that is, cutting corners because of a push to achieve results fast. We need to be building for longevity to be truly sustainable. The speed at which we need to build requires traditional on-site methods to keep costs down, as well as making use of the years of accrued skills readily available.
Builders’ merchants are at the heart of this dialogue, and
an essential component of the housebuilding process and an invaluable support to the on-site construction industry.
Innovate and educate There has been a huge amount of innovation in masonry materials. Builders have never been so spoiled for choice.
At the end of last year we launched our ‘Better Built in Blockwork’ campaign specifically to assist merchants when advising their clients on the appropriate block weights and dimensions to specify for a particular project. Developing new, more sustainable solutions is critical but it needs to be delivered hand in hand with education of our audience to mke for more informed decision-making. It should be more widely known that all our members have pledged, under our current code, that all blocks they produce are 100%
recyclable.This will help developers working to stringent sustainability briefs. As an industry we need to shout louder about these advantages to cut through the mania over modular. Our ongoing dialogue with
builders’ merchants is a core component of this and their interest in our work and ongoing support has been invaluable to us. There are many misconceptions currently surrounding concrete as a material in the view and it is our goal as an association to overturn these over 2019 and beyond. The housebuilding sector is, and should be diverse; there’s plenty of room for both on-site and off-site solutions, therefore the debate needs to be more balanced. At this stage we can guarantee our members are well positioned to offer builders’ merchants the quantity and variety they need to meet their orders from a single tiny house, through to large-scale developments. BMJ
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net June 2019
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