Offsite Manufacture: can it make a difference?

A number of factors have seen off-site manufacture of homes and MMC in general rise up the political agenda. In particular, these include the need to increase capacity and quality at a time when the resources available on-site are in short supply.

There is a surge in interest in MMC, driven in part by Government Policy as detailed in the Housing White Paper and supported by the MHCLG report “Modernise or Die” and more recently in the Homes England Strategic Plan.

Coupled with the well-publicised shortage of skilled labour in the housing market, house builders are investigating different ways of building. There is a need to improve productivity and reduce the impact of the declining workforce.

From a policy point of view MMC appears to have the potential to be significantly more productive than traditional methods of construction and greatly increase the pace of delivery.

Housing Providers are keen to adopt off-site, but where they are likely to be for private sale or where they plan to charge properties against their loans, then NHBC (or other) warranty and the ability to insure is key.

In 2018 NHBC received over 40 new systems to review to determine if they can be accepted for warranty. The types of MMC system seen varied, covering all construction materials (CLT, timber frame, light steel frame, precast concrete, Aerated concrete, hot rolled steel and occasionally real innovation such as 3D printing and Glass fibre reinforced materials).

There was also a focus on the challenge to private sales and mortgageability. Concern about the discretion of local lenders to lend, or not, against off-site systems. Government is trying to get agreement between lenders, insurers and warranty providers as to a common approach.