Construction Industry: Timber

Lord Vaizey of Didcot Excerpts

Thursday 5th February 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

The road map was an important document on increasing the use of timber. As we go forward with our ambitious housebuilding programme, we need to ensure that the houses we build are as sustainable as they can be. The noble Baroness’s question about reusable timber has to be part of the discussion with housebuilders and the way we move forward.

[Lord Vaizey of Didcot (Con)]

My Lords, hemp is grown in this country and is a fantastic building material that is both carbon negative and sustainable, with fantastic insulation qualities. The French are the largest growers of hemp in Europe and use it an extraordinary amount in construction. Given that 34 miles of rope on HMS “Victory” was made of hemp, how have we let the French steal a march on us and what are the Government going to do about it?

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

The noble Lord asks a very interesting question. Those of us who have been involved in working with the construction industry will be aware that there is a quite a large lobby for the use of hemp in this country—I am sure the noble Lord is aware of it. As we move forward with more sustainable building, we have to look at all options, and I am sure we can consider hemp as part of that.