The Structural Timber Association (STA) panel took place, hours before the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s speech on Tuesday afternoon, at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool to discuss finding sustainable ways to solve the housing crisis.
The panel featured Dame Siobhain McDonagh MP – chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Temporary Accommodation.
Dame Siobhain was joined by Leonie Cooper AM – chair, London Assembly Environment Committee, Member, London Assembly Housing Committee.
“I’ve visited a number of sites where timber frame (houses) were being put up and I was really impressed with how good they were,” said Ms Cooper. “And one of the things that impressed me was speed of delivery.
“If we want to build 1.5 million homes between now and the end of this Parliament getting a wriggle on is unbelievably important.
“If you are doing a timber frame (home), you are going to be moving faster, a lot faster.
“I think structural timber builds can really help with getting anywhere near the target of building 1.5 million homes.”
Dame Siobhain spoke about the urgent need to address the housing crisis and the associated problem of families being forced into temporary accommodation.
The politicians sat alongside Andrew Orriss, chief executive officer of the STA and Tom Fairlie, sales director, Walker Timber Engineering, which is a member of the STA.
Mr Orriss indicated there is capacity in the timber industry to make a huge contribution to speeding up housebuilding across the UK. “We’re currently delivering about 40,000 houses a year (in structural timber),” he said. “The capacity with a modest investment, could be up to 100,000 units per year.
“So straight away if you took the target of building 300,000 houses a year – which is what the 1.5 million target relates to, the timber frame industry could actually deliver 30% of the requirement – much of which it is doing already.”
“Speed, quality, sustainability – energy efficient homes,” added Mr Fairlie. “These are elements structural timber can bring to the housing market.
“In terms of low-rise housing, structural timber is going to make a huge contribution.”
Walker Timber Engineering offers a range of bespoke products that provide exceptional environmental, cost and performance benefits. Walker Timber Engineering works to champion the use of sustainably produced engineered timber across the UK.
