SIG OFFSITE ROUNDTABLE
MAKING THE MARKET SHIFT A recent Roundtable Event hosted by SIG Offsite, brought together a select group of industry experts to discuss how to expand the use of offsite manufacture across the housing market and wider construction sector. Gary Ramsay reports on the key points.
1 In recent years ‘housing’ and ‘crisis’ are two words that have become inextricably linked. The root causes rest in the decades-long decrease of housebuilding, a growing population, the vagaries of inflated house prices and recent economic gloom. These have all combined to push the notion of home ownership spiralling out of the reach of many. The financial pressures of rent and mortgages are vast for many parts of society and what constitutes ‘affordable housing’ is a lottery, depending on which part of the UK you want to live and work. The Housing White Paper published in February – Fixing our Broken Housing Market – recognised that change is a necessity and promised a broad range of ‘radical, lasting reform’ on the ways homes are delivered. These reforms included the greater use of offsite manufacturing and more reliable and
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faster building methods to change the housing market and boost the supply of new homes. The Housing White Paper was coloured by Mark Farmer’s landmark report Modernise of Die. There are many challenges ahead for the construction industry and ambitious plans in the pipeline for the housing sector but how can this growth in offsite activity be accelerated? “You have to go back to the Housing White Paper to try and understand the direction of travel,” says CEO of Cast Consultancy, Mark Farmer. “It hopefully recognised some of the issues in my report and that the housing crisis isn’t just about land banking and fitness of the planning system. It was about recognising we have a construction capacity challenge. I think that was formalised in the White Paper.”
ATTENDEES Stephen Wightman – Managing Director, SIG Offsite Mark Farmer – CEO, Cast Consultancy Anthony Thistleton – Director, Waugh Thistleton Oliver Novakovic – Technical & Innovation Director, Barratt Developments James Pickard – Director, Cartwright Pickard Darren Richards – Managing Director, Cogent Consulting Rory Bergin – Partner: Sustainable Futures, HTA Design LLP Jeff Maxted – Director of Technical Consultancy, BLP Insurance Gary Ramsay – Editor, Offsite Magazine
WWW.OFFSITEMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017