It’s no secret that the UK is in the midst of a housing crisis. Financial uncertainty, a skills shortage and a lack of construction are all contributing to the issue.
In response, the Government has put forward an ambitious housing target. If we’re to get anywhere near this ambition, it’s clear the UK needs to adopt a more rounded approach to house building and specifically materials, skills, planning and finance.
Finance is a particularly interesting topic. During the 40 plus years I’ve worked within the construction industry, I’ve seen many myths about timber frame homes, specifically relating to securing a mortgage for properties of this type.
There’s a common misconception that lenders won’t approve mortgages for timber frame homes due to them being treated as ‘non-standard construction’. Structural Timber Association (STA) has been supporting the industry since the mid 80’s making the structural timber sector mature and well established. This also highlights the key issue of the assumption that timber frame homes are novel.
The truth in fact is very different. Yes, the industry has a long and proud heritage, but its use of modern technologies has advanced timber frame construction to a point where it is now a mainstream building method. For example, in Scotland, 92% of new build homes are timber frame. Across North America, Scandinavia, Central Europe and Australia, tens of thousands of homes are timber-based and there’s no struggle to access finance for them.
Contrary to some beliefs, timber is not the deciding factor when it comes to lenders making decisions about granting finance. If a timber frame building’s external fabric complies with building regulations lenders will approve mortgages. It’s that simple.
Improving access to financing isn’t the silver bullet solution but it’s certainly part of the answer. As it stands, not enough homes are being built and even when housing exists, many can’t afford to buy. Greater accessibility to mortgages leads to increased demand and more incentive for developers to build.
The timber industry has the capacity to make a huge contribution to the current crisis by speeding up housebuilding across the UK. As a sector, we currently deliver an estimated 35,000 homes per year in the UK but have the latent capability to more than double this.
Timber frame homes can be erected in as little as five days as off-site prefabrication speeds up the build process and improves energy efficiency. Timber is a natural material that has lower carbon emissions than steel or concrete and is also less skills and weather dependent. It’s also sustainable as timber stores up to 0.9 tonnes of CO2 per cubic metre and forests are replenished with two to three trees planted for each one harvested.
All these benefits lead to lower running costs and make timber frame homes faster to build at scale.
As an association, we work closely with our membership to promote the benefits of timber frame construction and demonstrate that we can deliver quality, sustainable and energy efficient homes at pace. It’s why we developed our ‘Learning Journey’. We’re inviting housebuilders, lenders and decisionmakers to Scotland to experience the entire timber supply chain, from sustainably managed forests and sawmills to engineered timber factories and live housing sites.
Many of the myths surrounding timber frame mortgages are based on outdated construction methods that aren’t comparable to the engineered systems used today. Improving mortgage accessibility reassures customers and developers plus stimulates demand, which in turn accelerates the delivery of new homes.
It’s time we viewed timber frame construction as one the UK’s most forward-thinking and sustainable ways to address the need for more homes.
Andrew Orriss is CEO at the Structural Timber Association
