Some useful insights in the last few days into Labour and Conservative housing policies in the run-up to yesterday’s local elections. These need thought. Until the voting results are clearer, (I write today early on Friday) responding is premature.
Moving on, for sometime I have wondered about logic of the push, with both political and commercial backing, to introduce mass building techniques into house building, intended to achieve the benefit of low cost production. Low construction cost homes sounds good. Mass production of new homes in a clean, dry factory using using modular assembly methods sounds good too. Some serious industry names have given the ideas behind modular housing supply their endorsement. So this is good too. What not to like?
The decision by L&G Capital, part of L&G group to cease production of timber-frame houses at its 500,000 square feet, seven year old factory near Selby, Yorkshire is food for thought. Well actually it comes as a shock. Losses over seven years of £174m will have bothered board directors committed to L&G’s 10,000 homes a year initiative. Selby’s factory was intended to supply 3500 new modular houses. They are not the first in the modular construction industry to throw in the towel.
What is going on? I do not know, but can guess. Is there a regular supply of consented land? Highly unlikely. A key feature of the planning system is spasmodic supply of sites. Nothing predictable here. The planning control system does not do timing. As for production line reliability, forget it.
Are there predictable locations? You must be joking. Remember the call for sites system local planners use before they update their local plans? Spatially it is haphazard. Do owners join the call for sites frenzy? And if they do, will the planners have any idea how the local residents will react to unplanned locations? Spatially the control system is chaotic. Worse, it is anarchic! Planners claim the planning control system does spatial. It does not. Instead it tinkers with the sites owners offer, and residents care least about.
And here in Selby they are, or can regularly push out three thousand plus identi-kit houses each year. Where is the coupling with the building land? Reliability and unpredictability do not connect.
There is another worry, then enough for today.
It is this. One well designed pre-fabricated home looks good in and out. Lines of them may look like tickytacky little boxes. Probably not a worry to occupiers if there is scope for some personal input too. At least they have somewhere to call home. But think about local support. Will existing residents feel good; simply put will they welcome the prospect of lines of these homes close by? I do not know. But I have doubts. There may be a messaging challenge here which shows how the new houses can add value to the area. Poundbury with its 30% premium values is one example of a new community adding value if the coupling works. If you prefer, does the port fit into the socket? Can the modular construction industry create a system to do the same?
Ian Campbell
5 May 2023
