An MMC solution in masonry

The argument for building using Modern Methods of Construction was reignited at the end of last year when Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, confirmed the government’s commitment to its target of building 300,000 new homes a year by the mid-2020s.

The latest house building statistics from the ONS show there is still some way to go with 204,530 dwellings completed in the UK in the financial year ending March 2022.

In order to reach the target we need to build more homes, more quickly. Offsite construction and MMC have a key role to play. It is imperative however, that in speeding up the construction process we do not compromise on the quality of build.

Almost 80% of new homes in the UK are currently built with brick and block but the word ‘offsite’ tends not to be associated with masonry construction. Instead, it brings to mind prefabricated timber modules delivered to site and put together as whole units. However, offsite and masonry are not mutually exclusive.

Housebuilders are keen to speed up production, but they are also largely risk averse. Masonry MMC solutions such as H+H’s Vertical Wall Panels present an ideal solution. They combine the reassuring characteristics of a high-performance masonry structure with the speed of offsite.

The H+H Vertical Wall Panel system is designated as an MMC under the Mark Farmer Review and as a category 2 MMC under the UK Government’s white paper “Fixing our Broken Housing Market”. It is also recognised by the NHBC and NHBC Accepts having passed rigorous testing to meet the construction body’s stringent standards.

It is a tried and tested solution. H+H Vertical Wall Panels have already been widely used across Europe for years and over 2,000 houses have been completed so far in the UK using the panels.