English builders are increasingly tapping Scotland’s established timber-frame and truss supply chain to replace brick and masonry with timber-frame housing, as developers seek housing that is “faster, more sustainable and at a greater scale.”
That is according to Deeside Timberframe, a Scottish offsite timber manufacturer that is now building 300 timber-framed houses and bungalows in North Yorkshire, Cumbria, and Sunderland.
“Developers are under more pressure than ever to deliver homes quickly, efficiently and to a consistent standard,” according to Derek Wann, Deeside Timberframe’s business development director. “What we’re seeing now is a clear preference for timber frame partners who already understand how to deliver at scale. These are live residential developments where programme certainty underpins every commercial decision.”
In recent months, timber-frame has gained favour with UK homebuilders, as a shortage of skilled labour and a push toward modern methods of construction and environmentally sustainable materials has seen developers push to return timber-frame numbers to levels not seen since the 1970’s, using state-of-the-art robotics and factory-led assembly to drive a new wave of homes built using English timbers.
Now, more than one in three of the UK’s top homebuilders has a time frame facility, and according to Graeme Guy, national sales manager, truss and frame businesses are being engaged far earlier in the development process. “Developers want partners who can support them strategically, not just supply panels,” he said. “They’re looking for manufacturing capability, technical assurance and the confidence that delivery can be maintained across multiple sites.”
It comes as Wood Central last month revealed that Bellway Homes, one of the United Kingdom’s fastest-growing home builders, plans to more than double the share of timber homes it builds, from 12% to 30%, over the next five years. To achieve this, it opened Bellway Home Space, a state-of-the-art timber factory in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, late last month.
- To learn more about timber frame construction and the push to embrace “industrialised timber”, click here for Wood Central’s special feature.
