tide construction

Modular construction 'must be seen as one of the key solutions' to deliver more homes



Modular construction has been highlighted as one of the “key solutions” to help the housebuilding industry deliver more homes and meet the government’s housing targets, according to Christy Hayes, CEO at Tide Construction.


Christy’s comment was in response to the National House Building Council’s (NHBC) ‘New Home Statistics Review 2019’, which features information on new home construction and the housebuilding industry.

The UK housebuilding warranty and insurance provider revealed that 161,022 new homes were registered in 2019, with 112,086 in the private sector and 48,936 in the affordable and rental sector.

The NHBC also announced that a total of 150,436 new homes were completed in 2019 and 1.4 million new homes had been registered to be built in the past decade.

These figures relate to new homes registered with NHBC for its 10-year warranty, which it claims accounts for around 80% of all new homes built in the UK.

"It is encouraging that housebuilding remained resilient in 2019, despite the economic and political uncertainty of recent times,” said Christy.

"However, if we are to meet the government's target of building [1.5 million] homes by [2022], then diversity in supply and construction will be crucial.

"As the industry strives to deliver a greater number of homes, modular construction must be seen as one of the key solutions.”

According to the latest research by new home specialists Stone Real Estate, 93% of London's new-build transactions over the past year involved flats.

“The irony is [that] as Britain looks to leave the European Union, our housing market is starting to look a lot more European, with apartments now a growing part of the housing mix,” added Mary-Anne

Bowring, managing director at property management company Ringley.

"Many of these apartment blocks are being funded by institutional investors, such as pension funds and insurers, to serve as rental properties with single ownership and on-site management.

“This is good news for Britain's renters, as it will help create a more professionalised rental market, [such as] what’s already available in Germany, the Netherlands and Scandinavia, where institutional landlords have been around for decades and, as a result, renting isn't considered a tenure of last resort.”

Dave Sheridan, executive chairman at ilke Homes, added that the construction industry had shown “incredible resilience” over the past year, but was “still some way short of meeting the government's target of 300,000 new homes a year”.

“To reach these figures, it is crucial that we continue to find ways to breathe new life into the supply and delivery of housing, whether that's through SME housebuilders or through embracing modern methods of construction (MMC), such as modular manufacturing, that will help to plug the gap that traditional housebuilders can't meet."



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