Lord Horam debates involving the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government during the 2024 Parliament

Housing: Modern Methods of Construction

Lord Horam Excerpts
Thursday 5th September 2024

(2 months, 2 weeks ago)

Lords Chamber
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Lord Horam Portrait Lord Horam (Con)
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My Lords, we all know that we have a serious housing problem in this country. Any serious attempt to increase supply should include modern methods of construction. They do get over the problem of a shortage of traditional skills. They do save time. They improve precision and quality, and they improve productivity. As the noble Baroness, Lady Warwick, said, they are already used extensively in Germany and the Netherlands. As the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, said, they are used in this country in student accommodation.

I was therefore extremely disappointed to find that in the list of measures on housing in the Labour Party manifesto—a commendably long list of measures on the supply side—there was no mention of modern methods of construction. It ought to look at this again, particularly because its avowed intention is to get the private sector and the government sector working together. That is what it should do, particularly in this area.