Housing: Modern Methods of Construction

Baroness Taylor of Stevenage Excerpts

Thursday 5th September 2024 Lords Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (Baroness Taylor of Stevenage) (Lab)]

My Lords, I am pleased to respond for the Government on this important issue. I am conscious that the debate takes place following the publication yesterday of the report on Grenfell. Our huge sympathy is with the relatives and friends of the 72 people who lost their lives in that incident, and with the brave communities that have waited seven years for that report. We will consider the issues of safety that relate to this topic very carefully, and we will learn all the lessons of the Grenfell report as we go through the further development of MMC.

I thank the noble Lord, Lord Carrington, for leading the debate, and the noble Lord, Lord Moylan, and his committee for the work they did in the inquiry into the role of modern methods of construction, which concluded earlier this year. It was a very thorough inquiry, and I am grateful for the work that was done.

I should declare an interest, having used MMC for a Housing First homeless project in my borough when I was leader of the council, and for a further affordable housing project with a housing association. Both of these were very successful, very quick, and delivered on time and to budget.

I am grateful to all noble Lords for their contributions to today’s debate. I recognise the expertise in the House—that is quite nerve-wracking for a Minister, but I am grateful for it, nevertheless. I will try to respond to the points that have been raised. I have been variously described as a ringmaster and a midwife in this debate, so I will do my best to fulfil those roles.

I start with the role of MMC in meeting housing supply, an issue rightly raised by a number of noble Lords, including the noble Lords, Lord Fuller, Lord Banner, Lord Carrington and Lord Best, and the noble Baroness, Lady Wheatcroft. As noble Lords will be aware, this Government were elected on a decisive mandate of change and national renewal, with an overriding mission to deliver economic growth and the higher living standards, good jobs, stronger public services and greater opportunities that go with that, for all parts of our country.

Getting Britain building again and tackling the housing crisis we inherited will be critical to achieving our ambition of building 1.5 million homes over the course of the next Parliament—a target referred to in the opening speech of the noble Lord, Lord Carrington, by the committee chaired by the noble Lord, Lord Moylan, and by the noble Baroness, Lady Warwick of Undercliffe. We agree with the noble Lord that modern methods of construction have an important role to play in this endeavour.

Innovation has revolutionised so many sectors and transformed the way we live, with incredible gains in productivity and living standards, yet much of the housebuilding industry continues to build in the same way it has for hundreds of years. Of course traditional build has, and will continue to have, its place. The noble Lord, Lord Carrington, referred to the historic use of prefabs, way back when, and mentioned Chiswick, where my grandmother lived, so I remember that well. The noble Viscount, Lord Hanworth, also referred to this. The noble Baronesses, Lady Wheatcroft and Lady Bowles, and others, referred to the public perception of this issue, which is vital to our consideration.

The serious challenges we face, not least in meeting our net-zero goals, demand that we take a much more ambitious and innovative approach, which is why I believe it is time to realise the great potential of modern methods of construction. That relates to the point of the noble Lord, Lord Mair, about being committed and having the commitment to drive this forward.

I am delighted to see a number of MMC firms succeeding, such as Vision Modular building Europe’s largest residential modular tower in Croydon, or a number of manufacturers delivering affordable modular homes on challenging brownfield sites. The noble Baroness, Lady Scott, referred to Grange University Hospital being built with these techniques.

The benefits MMC brings are truly impressive. It can help to deliver high-quality greener homes more quickly than traditional methods, which is good news for boosting supply and for the environment. I agree with noble Lords’ comments about the importance of good design and a variety of design, all of which are possible with MMC. It is therefore no surprise that an increasing number of housebuilders are already using off-site construction methods. Last night, I met with one who was talking to me about their innovation in this area.

MMC can help to create new well-paid jobs, attracting a wider pool of talent than traditional construction work. I recognise the challenges in the skills area, but this can attract a new cohort of talent, meaning that housing delivery is no longer held back by housing challenges. The noble Lord, Lord Best, referred to the involvement of Skills England. The noble Baronesses, Lady Thornhill and Lady Scott, and the noble Lord, Lord Carrington, all referred to skills, and I assure them that colleagues in MHCLG take that issue incredibly seriously.

MMC offers a broad range of technologies and approaches and, while much of the committee’s work focused on the category 1 market, we welcome the housebuilding sector’s increasing adoption of category 2 MMC, such as timber frame and panelised systems. Timber frame is already used in over 90% of new homes in Scotland, and a growing number of developers—such as Barratt, Vistry and Persimmon—are investing in and expanding their factories. That is in addition to both long-standing and emerging category 2 suppliers, such as British Offsite and Donaldson, investing in their manufacturing facilities to provide greater capacity and productivity. So there are reasons to be very optimistic about the future of MMC and what it could contribute to our housing and growth options.

That said, it has also undoubtedly been a challenging period for the low-rise modular market, with a number of high-profile exits over the last two years, as referred to by the noble Baronesses, Lady Warwick and Lady Eaton, and the noble Lords, Lord Carrington and Lord Moylan. This was not entirely unexpected: all innovative sectors experience failures as they develop and refine their business models, and the traditional construction sector has also been hit by a few failures over the same period.

What has happened in the MMC sector illustrates some of the key challenges of wider MMC adoption, many of which the committee considered. First and importantly, it illustrates the need for a steady pipeline of demand, which many noble Lords referred to, including the noble Lords, Lord Rooker, Lord Mair and Lord Jamieson. Large-scale MMC manufacturers will require that steady pipeline of demand, which is currently hampered by a lack of certainty in the planning system and the cyclical housing market.

The noble Lord, Lord Moylan, and the committee were also right to reflect on the significant role of warranty and insurance providers, and other noble Lords referred to the finance sector. There needs to be clarity for manufacturers and developers on requirements to ensure that they can deliver high-quality homes without stifling innovation. The closures over the past two years have demonstrated the supply chain risk that manufacturer-specific systems create, should those firms exit the market, leaving purchasers unable to complete their homes. So we need to tackle the interoperability to help restore market confidence, and we must ensure that manufacturers have access to finance to ensure that viable firms can invest and grow in the market, as referred to by the noble Lords, Lord Carrington and Lord Griffiths.

Tackling these barriers will be challenging, and it will be for both developers and government to help drive the wider adoption of MMC. The noble Lord, Lord Carrington, referred to full order books, which is what they are looking for, and we need to build the confidence to create that. But many in the sector are not letting this stand in their way, and they are blazing a trail to making MMC more mainstream. We want to accelerate that journey, and we have lost no time in getting that work going, starting with significant steps to reintroduce mandatory planning targets and release grey-belt land for development, thereby driving demand across the country and giving developers and MMC manufacturers the certainty and stability they need to invest confidently and increase their capacity.

The sector is already stepping up, with a very public commitment from 43 housebuilders to utilise, and expand their use of, MMC in response to the planning reforms we set out in July. The committee highlighted the role that the affordable homes programme plays in providing a pipeline of demand for MMC manufacturers, while also improving awareness among social housing providers. I appreciate the key point of the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, about specialist housing provision—I will take that back.

We have clearly heard this message from manufacturers. The current £12.5 billion AHP is being implemented, and we will set out details of future investment in social and affordable housing at the spending review. Our aim is to deliver the biggest increase in social and affordable housing for a generation, and we truly believe that MMC will very much contribute to this.

The department is working with the British Standards Institution and the sector to deliver a new publicly available specification for MMC. This will bring greater clarity on the important issue of warranty and insurance providers, hopefully without squashing innovation in the sector. We are considering further options for greater standardisation, not only reducing the supply chain risk for customers but supporting suppliers to yield greater benefits from the manufacturing process, as well as protecting innovation and intellectual property. In addition, financial support is available to MMC manufacturers wanting to grow and expand through the £1.5 billion levelling-up home building fund. This is just the start; we recognise that there is a lot more to do, and we will set out further details in due course.

Our approach will be informed by support for different construction methods, in recognition of the fact that we need a diverse number of approaches to deliver on our housing targets. Not all parts of the sector will require the same types of support, and we must make sure that we do not focus simply on picking winners. This is about removing the sector-wide barriers to adoption, so that we have an MMC market that can deliver the decent homes and strong communities we all want to see. We will continue to engage with key stakeholders to develop the right approach for the sector, and I look forward to sharing more details about that in due course.

I will pick up some of the individual issues that noble Lords have raised. The publishing of an MMC strategy and the task force was raised by a number of noble Lords—the noble Baronesses, Lady Eaton and Lady Warwick, and the noble Lords, Lord Mair and Lord Birt, talked about this, as well as cross-government work on the issue. The Government are committed to delivering 1.5 million homes, and we view the adoption of MMC as key to that. We are reflecting on the committee’s recommendations and views from across the sector to establish how best to increase the use of MMC in housebuilding as part of the wider housing strategy.

Noble Lords talked about the comparative cost of MMC, including the noble Baroness, Lady Thornhill, and the noble Lords, Lord Fuller and Lord Carrington. Some stakeholders report that MMC has a higher upfront cost than traditional build, although others note that it is achieving cost parity or better. We anticipate that this will change as MMC demand and capacity continues to increase—it is a virtuous cycle. It is important to consider the whole-life cost of a building and the wider benefits that MMC can bring to a project.

I have already spoken about the affordable housing programme, and I hope that answered Members’ questions about how we will engage our own funding to drive this market forward.

On supporting supply, we are working to establish how best to address the strategic barriers to further uptake of MMC, including improved supply chain confidence, clarity for the warranty and insurance markets, and planning reform. The noble Lord, Lord Banner, raised an important point about custom-build and self-build, which I will take back to the department and let him have a written answer on that.

Before I run out of time, I want to address the issue of safety, because I recognise the concerns there will be following the Grenfell report. Many noble Lords referred to this issue. The Government take very seriously their responsibilities for ensuring that homes are safe for people. Building under factory conditions has the potential to improve consistency of finishes and details, but the level of quality achieved in both on-site and off-site construction depends on what is designed, specified and constructed. Building regulations—and this is really important—apply equally to homes built using MMC as to those built using traditional methods. Buildings must meet the safety and performance requirements in the building regulations, no matter how they are constructed or what materials are used. MMC developers and manufacturers are responsible for ensuring compliance with the regulations for any construction project, including ensuring that new techniques are used correctly.

The noble Lord, Lord Rooker, and the noble Baroness, Lady Wheatcroft, raised issues around the BRE, and I shall reply to those points in writing.

We share the sector’s ambition, and the ambition that we have heard today, for it to grow and succeed and play its part in getting Britain building, delivering the jobs, growth and opportunities that our country needs and deserves. We are hugely thankful to the sector for its support in getting us this far, for the continued efforts to realise its potential and for the exciting gains to come.