UK must embrace timber construction to meet climate and housing goals

Built environment leaders delivered a unified message – ‘timber can meet climate and housing goals now’ – at the recent UK Timber Design Conference in London.

Sustainable developers, architects, engineers and construction experts are calling on the Government to supercharge its housing goals by backing timber in construction – fully recognising it as a scalable, low-carbon solution, already supported by millions in private investment and with the existing capacity to build more today.

With the Government having set forth an ambitious plan to boost affordable housing, unlock land, store carbon, and streamline planning, Timber Development UK (TDUK) believes now is the time to connect these schemes to the Timber in Construction Roadmap, and fully embrace the use of timber in construction.

“Timber is already reshaping the UK built environment as a supply chain able to deliver on our housing and climate targets in construction, but we are yet to fully unlock this opportunity.” said David Hopkins, chief executive, Timber Development UK. “Right now, timber systems are used in only around 10% of new builds in England, as compared to 85% in Scotland.

“The science is established – timber homes are much lower-carbon than their masonry equivalents, offsite timber construction is much more efficient and resilient to the skills gap, and the timber approach is safe, cost-competitive, and sustainable while driving investment back into forest growth and development.

“The construction industry is increasingly embracing the use of timber systems – with more than 30% of the major house builders now owning a timber frame factory – but we can achieve so much more. The positive messaging and enthusiasm at the conference shows we are at a real inflection point for the use of timber in the UK.”

Award winning SME developers such as Human Nature (behind the eco-regeneration of the Phoenix industrial site in Lewes), Citu (developers of Leeds’ Climate Innovation District), and Greencore Homes (builders of zero-carbon Springfield Meadows in Oxfordshire) highlighted timber as a transformative tool in their work to create more impactful places for people and planet by embracing timber.

Meanwhile the community focused ‘Multiple Storey, Maximum Timber (MultiMax)’ system developed by WeCanMake and Waugh Thistleton Architects, and the approach of Agile Homes seeks to revolutionise the use of infill and otherwise commercially unviable sites to kick off a new wave of low-carbon affordable housing throughout our cities.

Other sessions at the conference included an embrace of the retrofit opportunities and “upward extension” work being done to bring more ‘timber on top’ solutions to market, in an Optoppen panel discussion led by Whitby Wood, manufacturing innovation with Deeside Timberframe, along with the policy levers Government can use to get the UK building more today.

“Increasing the use of timber in construction is a triple win for Government and industry – acting as a form of carbon capture and storage, helping to grow our forests, and creating better homes for people and planet. We are pleased to see a growing movement pushing for the use of timber in construction – we know there is so much potential we can achieve today”, said David.

“If we are to take on the housing and climate crises, it is more important now than ever that we see a widespread embrace and ramp-up these timber solutions – with policy makers, insurers, developers, and everyone who wishes to build a better future for themselves and their children.”