The Structural Timber Association (STA) has welcomed the announcement from Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner that an additional £350 million will be invested in boosting social housing construction and is calling for the Government to recognise the value that structural timber can deliver for this cash injection.
The move will see an extra £300 million allocated to the Affordable Housing Programme and a further £50 million to the Local Authority Housing Fund. The boost follows the Government’s £5 billion commitment in last year’s Autumn Budget, that aims to drive construction of 1.5 million homes in the next five years.
Image: Elmsbrook Exteriors
Andrew Carpenter, CEO of the STA commented: “This is clearly a welcome development for the housing sector and yet, with such ambitious targets in the coming years, we need to get building now and it needs to be at pace. Increasing the use of structural timber and offsite manufacturing is one of the most effective ways of ensuring the rapid delivery of these vitally needed homes, as well as offering best value for the public funds invested by the Government.
“For example, many house builders find that building a timber frame home can be as much as 50% quicker than that of masonry construction in some cases. Additionally, the time taken to make a house weather-tight, is between 6-10 weeks shorter.
“What’s more, boosting timber housing production represents a significant economic opportunity – with £10 billion gross value already added to the UK’s economy by the timber industry. The sector currently employs more than 300,000 people in 51,000 businesses, and expanding capacity has the potential to unlock many new jobs while also overcoming the skills crisis that has plagued previous attempts to increase housebuilding.”
To support the case for switching to structural timber, the STA has released a ‘Guide to Commercial Viability’ to illustrate and quantify the true commercial benefits of building with a structural timber system, including the time and resource savings that can be made compared to traditional building materials and methods.
To download the ‘Guide to Commercial Viability’, visit: https://timefortimber.org/how-timber/commercial-viability/
