Radical overhaul of UK construction industry needed to meet home building targets

The construction sector cannot meet the UK’s need for housing due to the way it currently operates and may also struggle to meet the need for infrastructure which is vital for new home building, a hard hitting report says.

The report from the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee says that innovation, such as off-site construction needs to be adopted along with other urgent solutions to make the industry more efficient, to reduce environmental impacts and to reduce labour demands.

It points out that the UK already lags behind other countries in construction productivity, and is facing a labour shortage, so the Government and the industry must urgently find solutions.

The report explains that off-site manufacture (OSM) could help to increase productivity while reducing labour demands but currently take up of OSM is varied and somewhat limited across the sector because it is working with outdated and unsustainable business models that are not conducive to OSM for construction.

It says that OSM requires collaboration between clients, designers and contractors from an early stage but much of the evidence the Committee received painted a picture of a construction sector that is fragmented and lacking in trust. These barriers must be addressed by the sector itself and strong leadership is needed from the Construction Leadership Council.

While OSM could lessen the labour shortage, the report also points out that the different skills required for manufacturing are currently lacking in the UK labour market and must be developed. OSM will require a combination of skills involving site implementation, digital and procurement.

‘The Government must therefore ensure that young people entering the workplace are equipped with the digital skills needed for modern methods of construction, including off-site manufacture,’ the report adds.

The Committee heard evidence that if the Government is to achieve its aim of building 300,000 houses a year by 2020, OSM would be the only way to meet this target, and that traditional construction methods do not have the capacity to build enough homes.

‘There are clear and tangible benefits from off-site manufacture for construction which make a compelling case for its widespread use. We heard evidence that OSM could increase productivity in the sector by up to 70%,’ said the chairman of the Committee, Lord Patel.

‘The construction sector’s business models are no longer appropriate and are not supporting the UK’s urgent need for new homes and infrastructure. The construction sector needs to build more trust and create partnerships so that companies can work together to improve the uptake of off-site manufacture, and the Construction Leadership Council should provide the necessary leadership,’ he added.

‘The role of the Government and the wider public sector is pivotal in a move to greater use of off-site manufacture. The report sets out actions that the Committee thinks the Government should take including implementation of the Construction Sector Deal, committed execution of the ‘presumption in favour’ of off-site manufacture and a greater move to procuring for whole-life value rather than lowest cost,’ he concluded.