By Martin Benn, head of new build at Eurocell.

Timber frame construction has long been a common building practice in Scotland and, depending on which figures you look at, it accounts for between 80% and 93% of all new build homes north of Hadrian’s Wall.

In England, this portion is much lower, yet that could be about to change. The government has reintroduced compulsory house building targets and with a potential relaxation of planning laws, it means builders will need to innovate if they’re to meet the target of building on average, 300,000 homes a year for the next five years.

The World Bank has forecast that the global demand for timber could quadruple by 2050, with the need for timber in construction anticipated to be a key driver for this. If you take a look at the home building market in England today, we can already see signs of where the market is heading – and where there’s demand for offsite construction.

The UK’s biggest housebuilder, Barratt Homes, having acquired Oregon Timber Frame, announced this year its intention to double the size of its Derbyshire factory. When confirming the expansion it stated that it ‘is committed to increasing the number of homes we build using offsite construction as part of our overall volume growth aspirations’.

Last year, Persimmon’s timber frame brand, Space4, was given the go ahead to build a timber frame factory in Loughborough – which promises to deliver enough timber frames for 7,000 homes a year. And Taylor Wimpey announced its plans to develop a timber frame factory in Peterborough as it looks to support its goal of increasing the usage of timber frame on its sites.

So, why now is there a sudden drive towards timber frame construction?

Historically, in England, there has long been a preference for brick and masonry – it’s just part of the culture of our industry. But timber frame is now seen as a genuine alternative for housebuilders who are looking to lower the carbon footprint of their developments and introduce more sustainable building practices.

There’s also the question of skills. At Eurocell, we are a big advocate for new pathways into the industry to bring much needed skilled people who will help achieve industry goals of building more homes and reducing emissions to meet net zero targets. But right now, across the wider construction industry, the skills aren’t there.

Instead, builders are looking at innovative ways to build – and this is where they need support from product manufacturers, fabricators and their entire supply chain.

Housebuilders will be asking their partners ‘how will you support our efforts to meet our build and sustainability requirements’? And I have no doubt that our industry will step-up to that call.

This year, we have brought to the market a new system that transforms how windows are fitted into timber frame properties. Our InSite system, comprises a specialist hinge, sealant, cavity barrier and either our Logik or Modus window profile. It allows windows to be installed in timber frame and LGS panels during the factory based manufacturing process rather than on-site.

The hinge is fastened to the cavity barrier of a fully glazed window, which is then fitted securely into the timber panel cavity before being transported and installed on site into a property. It is the only window system suitable for timber frames that has been fully tested to prevent the spread of fire and smoke from, or to, the cavity – making it a game changer for the industry.

The system also reduces on-site disruption and health and safety concerns as final commissioning of the windows can be carried out from inside the building. This eliminates working at height or having to move windows around on scaffolding.

The impact of this system on reducing installation times by up to 75% has already been demonstrated by a project in Inverness where it took just two days for all windows to be commissioned on a block of four terraced houses. A project we worked in partnership with Pinefield Glass and Kirkwood Timber Frame on. The time saved equates to thousands of pounds and will help to ensure that projects are completed on time.

It feels like we are at the beginning of a ‘strong recovery’ for the house building market and I’m excited to see how England follows the example of Scotland – working off-site as much as possible to speed up projects and support the industry’s goal in delivering more homes.