A large section of the wall hangs from the arm of a crane above a half-disciplinary house in Cottgrave, Nottinghamshire, slowly descends towards the waiting crew who secures it.
The timber skeletons made at this factory arrive at the site by truck in the morning and are assembled by a team of six workers by the end of the same day. A pre-assembled roof truss on nearby ground is lifted into place to cap the structure.
Timber construction has long been widely used in North America, Scandinavia and Scotland, but in the UK it has struggled to tow. There, houses are usually built by handing over from bricks and blocks.
“It’s a bit like the story of a wolf and three pigs. People think the bricks and masonry will last longer,” said Oliver Novakovich, director of technology and innovation at Barrat Redlow, one of the nation’s largest house builders who own Cottgrave development.
England’s largest house builders are all looking for more construction along with the wood. Barratt Redrow has built almost 30% of the house from wood, and Novakovic said the share could ultimately be about half as high.
Barratt Redrow’s Oliver Novakovic: “People assume that bricks and masonry last longer” © Andrew Fox/ft
Behind the shift is the lack of skilled labor the industry needs to meet the ambitious government targets of 1.5 million new homes by 2029, and the looming environmental regulations requiring better insulation and carbon-intensive materials.
The changes in planning policy brought about by Keir Starmer’s administration could help drive housing supply to 305,000 a year by 2029, according to fiscal observers, a forecast of budget liability.
The industry is skeptical that construction of this scale can be achieved without financial support as it is still narrowed down by high mortgage rates and relaxed lending rules.
But it also lacks the ability to build at this rate (the best since the 1960s) without changing the way homes are built.
Dean Finch, CEO of FTSE 100 Housebuilder Persimmon, said the “step changes to home construction that the government wants” is unlikely to happen without “combining timber frame-like innovation with brick-style façades.”
The Federal Industry Group of home builders estimates the sector will require 240,000 recruits to expand up to 300,000 homes a year. The biggest shortage of these is 20,000 brickmakers, well over the 11,000 apprentices adopted over the past five years.
However, finding enough bricks for these workers to lie down can also be a problem.
The wooden frame is assembled at the Oregon Timber Frame Factory in Derby and is ready to be built on the site © Andrew Fox/ft
Joe Hudson, chief executive of Ibstock, the UK’s largest brick maker, said the UK’s production capacity, which has replenished about 500 million imports, is around 2.2 billion brickwork per year, and can support at most 250,000 new homes.
Finding at least 500mn bricks to hit 300,000 homes presents a challenge.
“In this council, it takes quite a long time to build a brick factory, so we can’t get the extra capacity of 500mn bricks,” he said.
My attachment to Brick homes in England runs deep. To replace the solid brick construction preferred before World War II, traditional construction methods – double layers of masonry with cavities in between – have remained largely unchanged over 80 years.
For decades, industry has flirted with flashy solutions to build homes more efficiently. The so-called modular structures often include 3D units made in the factory throughout the room, delivered to truck buildings and then mounted.
But the homebuilding recession over the past two years brought about by higher interest rates has killed some of the most promising modular builders. L&G closed its factory after winning a loss of £176 million over seven years. Top hats, supported by Goldman Sachs and Pertinmont, were closed last year.
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Andrew Shepherd, formerly a Tophat executive and now managing director of Ibstock’s Innovation Division, said the technology is useful for many types of buildings, including apartment blocks, but is not very suitable for house buildings.
Buildings with 3D pods are more expensive, require more upfront investments, and there is little flexibility in design. “I think what I describe as a 2D panelized option would be better suited to (home construction) market,” he said.
The 2D Method was on display at the Derby Factory at Oregon Timber Frame, which offers Cottgrave development. According to detailed instructions on the computer screen, the wood is cut and nailed with panels up to 10 meters long on three production lines.
Computer-guided metal stops and rollers ensure that the frame is square and correctly positioned, while the ac-looking automatic nailing machine helps with more intensive steps, such as attaching the board to the outside of the frame.
Approximately 200 workers can produce timber structures in 32 homes every day. These are packed flat on a sleek IKEA kit-like truck. It features a labeled box with bolts and fittings.
When delivered to the development site, a timber frame house usually takes 12-14 weeks, compared to 20 for traditional masonry structures.
Cotgrave development uses 2D modular methods for Oregon Timber frames © Andrew Fox/ft
Barratt purchased Oregon wood and its existing factory in Selkirk, southern Scotland in 2019, then invested £45 million in more advanced derby facilities to supply England.
The rivals are moving in the same direction. Taylor Wimpy and Bellway hope to build 30% of the house using wood by 2030. Perimmon is investing in its own factory and plans a one-second planning permission.
Wood is considered a more environmentally friendly building material, and gaps within the wood framing make walls thicker and easier to isolate without losing valuable area.
The industry is waiting for new regulations to be made public soon, and will raise the energy efficiency standards of homes over the next two or three years. Executives hope this will be followed by rules designed to push low-carbon building materials.
But importantly, customers and local planners want the brick home exterior. This means that brick skin is still essential for the industry.
“Most parts of the UK wood frame homes will have outer brick skin. I think that’s deep within the psychology of consumer psychology.” “They look essentially the same.”
Brick facades on timber houses can fade quickly, and the industry is looking for a high-tech version of brick effect wallpaper.
Ibstock CEO Joe Hudson hopes products such as Thin Bricks will bridge the production of bricks © Andrew Fox/ft
Some house builders support facade products from supplier Mauer, which looks like bricks, but can be applied to factory wood frames.
Ibstock is also investing in new products using thin bricks. Hudson hopes these are hitting 300,000 homes to “fill in the gaps” in brick production.
The Nostel, Yorkshire factory was closed in 2020 when Covid-19 stopped, but is being redeveloped to produce a wider range of brick and ceramic products.
On the factory floor, workers install sections of yellow gas pipes wide enough to carry bowling balls. This will feed a new 120m kiln lined with 1,800 rollers and fire bricks at a temperature of about 1,200°C.
Thin bricks are already widely used to provide brick finishes for buildings, including skyscrapers. In many cases, these so-called brick slips are held in place by metal rails.
The brick facade will be added to the timber frame building at Holly Gate Park © Andrew Fox/ft
The main new product designed for house builders is a 1.5cm thin brick panel, several feet square panel, pasted on patented backing material.
However, there are risks to this new material. Factory adds fixed overhead to home builders in an industry where sales are highly cyclical.
Investec analyst Aynsley Lammin said big builders probably won’t push more than 50% of the “normalized” output.
They also needed to increase their confidence in the UK regarding fire safety, longevity and maintenance. “There’s a risk that home buyers prefer what they see as a more solid block and brick home,” Lamin said.
Despite environmental pressures and labor tensions, the question is whether British buyers will give up their attachment to brick homes.
“It’s similar to moving away from a diesel engine or a gasoline engine,” Thomas said. “To the extreme, we were able to see the environment where the bricks were gone. It could be 50 years or 100 years from now, but we need to evolve these technologies.”
