Modern Methods Of Construction – Government response.

Modern Methods Of Construction Government response to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee report.

It is about time that the government starting to sing from the rooftops about Offsite modular construction MMC building systems to accelerate the building of much needed social & affordable homes in the UK.

Singing from the rooftops about modern methods of construction 

Ministerial foreword

Since becoming Housing Minister, I have been struck by the enormous opportunities to be far more innovative in the way we build new homes. Countries across the world are using new technologies to increase housing supply and deliver good quality new build homes. I want the UK to be at the forefront of pioneering this change. For decades, the pace of house building has been extremely slow and the number of new homes being built has not kept up to speed with our growing population. This needs to change. We also need a housebuilding industry that is more focused on the consumer, delivering to those parts of the market that are currently not well-served. That might be specialist age-appropriate housing, or successful build-out of small urban sites with complex access. It might be new community-led housing in rural locations, or housing for key workers whose contributions to society often go unnoticed. These housing needs will be better served by a more diverse developer market. The way in which the housebuilding market currently operates constrains the supply of new homes due to insufficient competition and innovation. We are heavily reliant on volume housebuilders, who, while an important part of the market, cannot provide the whole answer alone. To rapidly increase the pace of building and reach our housing ambitions, we need to increase the range of producers in the market and also the types of homes they are delivering. I recognise how Modern Methods of Construction can help the market to go further. This could be in regeneration, or to develop unused brownfield land and hard to access plots – as is already happening in towns and cities all over England. I have been told by many in the offsite industry of the range of barriers to expansion, and whilst I know my predecessors have taken steps to address these, I plan to look further at how I can support this sector to go further, and faster. There are challenges, of course, such as finding people with the right skills. I see the opportunities for those already working in construction as well as the potential for a new future workforce. The more we modernise the process of building and make construction an exciting place to work, the more we will keep experienced staff in the industry and attract a new, diverse workforce of talented young people. Diversifying the market and ensuring it delivers a greater variety of products will not only result in the delivery of additional homes but will also increase market resilience. We need a market that can adapt, to the changing demands of consumers and technology, but also to changing economic conditions. In short, diversification can lead to more homes being delivered faster and to a higher quality, with significant financial benefits. We are committed to ensuring that as the use of MMC expands, quality and safety remains very much at the forefront of what we are trying to achieve. I am excited to see what the offsite industry has in store over the next few years. I believe it will play a key role in building better homes and stronger communities. While we facilitate this, keeping quality and safety at the heart of home-building will be an essential part of our strategy. Britain can become a world-leader in MMC – and I want to work with the sector to make that ambition a reality. Introduction The Government welcomes the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee’s report on Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) following its recent inquiry. We are pleased that the Committee recognises the importance of embracing MMC to build homes quicker and meet our ambition of building 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s, meeting housing need while maintaining build quality. We have repeatedly made clear our commitment to increasing the supply of houses through encouraging a diversified housing market, where firms embrace innovation to become more 4 productive and deliver a better product to the consumer.

TO READ THE FULL REPORT FOLLOW THE LINK https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/832176/SC_168_-_modern_methods_of_construction.pdf

#modernmethodsofconstruction #offsiteconstruction #offsitemodularconstruction #hybridmodularconstruction