Pro Installer January 2018 - Issue 58 | Page 46

46 | JANUARY 2018 Business Read online at www.proinstaller.co.uk Infrastructure boost into mega projetcs Overall construction new orders increased in value reaching £7.4 billion before Christmas, the highest figure for two years. The trend had continued for the fourth month in a row, and was underpinned by the commissioning of the major £2.25 billion TransPennine Upgrade from Stalybridge to Leeds project. FACTORY-BUILT HOMES – ARE THEY THE ANSWER? London needs 50,000 new homes a year to meet its growing needs. To reach this target, an innovative approach is vital. In the 1970s, factory-built housing contributed significantly to supply. The new model of factory manu- factured homes is light years away from this. Today’s builders and manu- facturers are producing offsite manufactured homes (OSM), char- acterised by high quality, digital design, precision engineering and eco-efficient performance. • The wide variety of homes that OSM now produces can meet the needs of families with children, older people and single households. The business model is particularly suitable for rental accommo- dation at all income levels. • Their shallow foundations, lightweight construction and acoustic performance lend themselves to constrained sites. • OSM buildings can be built and occupied in half the time of conventional buildings, requiring fewer vehicles to transport materials to site. On behalf of the London Assem- bly Planning Committee, Nicky Gavron AM has published the report ‘Designed, sealed, deliv- ered: The contribution of offsite manufactured homes to solving London’s housing crisis’. The report’s recommendations to the Mayor include: • Provide clear and strong lead- ership in raising the aware- ness of OSM’s potential. • Work towards defining and adopting a Manufactured Housing Design Code. • Look at the potential of using TfL-owned land to stimulate the OSM sector. • Set up a dedicated OSM-spe- cific procurement framework for London. Nicky Gavron AM, report author, said: “Meeting London’s housebuild- ing target is a huge task and tradi- tional construction techniques will only take us so far. Offsite Manu- factured Housing is an innovative, forward-looking and exciting way to close the gap. These buildings are high quality and outstanding in terms of performance. Their construction is more environ- mentally-friendly than traditional construction methods and they are a far cry from their prefabricated predecessors. Few will disagree that using vacant public land to build homes quickly and with less pollution and disruption could be great news for London, tailored to demands at every price point. “The lack of a single design standard or mass market demand has held back the sector’s growth. This is a once in a generation opportunity to work collabora- tively with investors, developers and policy makers at a time where experts, central and local govern- ment are all calling for the same thing to happen. The Mayor is ideally placed to respond to the report’s recommendations and call to action.” Mark Farmer, Chief Executive of Cast Consultancy and author of the Farmer Review, said: “This timely report sends an unequivocal message to the Mayor of London that now is the time to show strong political leadership to establish a mainstream precision manufactured housing market in the capital. It could underpin ambitions not just for housing, but wider economic growth.” The Economic & Construc- tion Market Review from industry analysts Barbour ABI, highlighted the levels of construction contract values awarded in November across Great Britain. Infrastructure was the dominant sector of the month, totalling £3.7 billion based on a three-month average and is the highest post-recession figure, majorly influenced by the afore- mentioned TransPennine upgrade, which is more than seven times the value of the next largest infra- structure contract on the month. Across the industry, project numbers were up in November by 8.3% per cent when compared to the previous month, contin- uing the recent trend. Outside of infrastructure, only medical and health construction saw an increase in contract value on the month - albeit a small growth of 1.4 per cent. The remaining sectors struggled in November, with commercial construction producing its lowest figures for almost five years and residential building decreasing for the third month in a row, posting its lowest value total so far for 2017. The remaining sectors of industrial, education and hotel, leisure and sport construction all saw small declines in November. Regionally, it was Yorkshire and Humber that took the top spot away from London with 38% of the total value of construction contracts in November. In second place was the North West, thanks largely to two large infrastructure projects, the Lostock Energy from Waste facility and Ince Resource Recovery Park waste facility, with a value of £300 & £130 million respectively. Commenting on the figures, Michael Dall, Lead Economist at Barbour ABI, said: “November wit- nessed an increase in infrastruc- ture figures of 177% compared to last year, providing the industry with a much-needed boost for the third month in a row after a previ- ously quiet 2017. With the residen- tial sector continuing to decline and other sectors in an ongoing struggle, the commissioning of these large infrastructure projects have come at the right time. As the Brexit uncertainty continues to loom over construction, investors and industry figures can feel as- sured knowing that ‘mega projects’ and large value developments are still being commissioned.” www.barbour-abi.com