Ongoing pressure is being placed on traditional house building methods, with the country still some 100,000 units behind its aim of building 300,000 new houses a year. Inevitably the affects Brexit is going to have on gaining skilled and semi-skilled workers is only going to compound this further.
Offsite manufacturing techniques are not new. What has happened, certainly over the past couple of years, is a resurgence in noise surrounding this technology. Importantly, methods and the finished product have dramatically improved during this time, with the subsector slowly losing its stigma of being a cheap alternative, with shoddy finishing and reduced lifespan.
Philip Hammond expressing, in no uncertain terms, that we need to drive investment into modular housing has therefore been welcomed by the industry. Certain pressure was applied prior to the statement by six assembly members coming out publicly for their support of modular building.
Mark Farmer, a long-serving supporter of these methods, has said we are many years behind other industries in adopting new technologies and approaches... well, let us hope this is the catalyst the industry needs. Going by L&G's recent news of investment into a new £55m, 272-acre plant to build up to 3,000 homes a year is, hopefully, testament to the upsurge.
A new generation of prefab housing is to go up at a 272-acre site near Wokingham after Legal & General said the Budget had given it confidence to invest.