Inquiry into off-site construction advantages continues

23 April 2018


Housebuilders and engineering experts will be speaking at the next stage of a parliamentary inquiry investigating off-site manufacture for construction.

The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee was due to take oral evidence on April 24, with the committee considering the potential benefits of off-site manufacture and the implications of its use for architects, design engineers, contractors and the supply chain.

The session will also explore the opportunities off-site manufacture offers for building high quality, affordable housing. Taking part include Professor Jeremy Watson CBE, Vice-Dean of Engineering Sciences and Professor of Engineering Systems, University College London; Phil Wilbraham, expansion programme director, Heathrow Airport; and Professor Jennifer Whyte, director of the Centre for Systems Engineering and Innovation, Imperial College London.

Others include Rosie Toogood, CEO, Legal and General Modular Homes; Jamie Ratcliff, assistant director (Housing), Greater London Authority; and Tim Carey, national product director, Willmott Dixon.

The committee will examine what the opportunities and drawbacks are for offsite manufacture for construction as well as how the planning system can be used to encourage the use of off-site manufacture for construction for housing.