Government ambition is not yet translating into construction action at the levels required – Ben Towe, Chair of the Light Steel Frame Association (LSFA), considers how the right economic conditions, policy measures and industry capacity can unlock pent-up demand.
On the one hand, Government has set ambitious targets for housebuilding, healthcare, education and infrastructure. On the other, the construction companies needed to deliver these ambitions are operating in an extremely difficult economic environment, facing rising costs, squeezed margins, weak order pipelines, and increasing insolvency risk.
The result is an uncomfortable disconnect between the scale of Government ambition and what is happening on the ground, creating a great deal of uncertainty in the sector. The need is clear, but where is the effective demand? Housing targets are not consistently translating into planning applications, and planning consents are not consistently becoming construction starts. Developers continue to face viability pressures and uncertainty over whether projects will deliver an acceptable return. The ambition is there, the demand is real, but what is missing is the economic confidence to get projects moving.
The wider macroeconomic picture matters
Construction does not operate in a vacuum. Government can reform planning, set housing targets, and identify sites, but ultimately developers and investors make decisions based on economics. There is significant pent-up demand for housing and infrastructure. People need homes, public services need investment and the country needs new and upgraded infrastructure. That demand has not disappeared simply because economic conditions have suppressed development.
The question is what happens when confidence returns. If borrowing costs fall, investment appetite improves and economic conditions strengthen, there is potential for a significant release of pent-up demand. The industry therefore needs to be ready – not scrambling to build capacity once the pipeline accelerates.
Planning reform is clearly part of the answer. A slow, complex and unpredictable planning system has become a significant barrier to development, and Government is right to address it. But planning permission is not the same as a viable construction project. The challenge is therefore bigger than simply getting more applications through the system. But planning is not the only chokepoint. For the high-rise sector, building safety and more specifically, the way the new regulatory regime is being implemented, has introduced another significant barrier to getting projects started.
Building safety must become an enabler, not another bottleneck
The Building Safety Act has fundamentally changed expectations around accountability, competence, traceability and demonstrable performance. The LSFA fully supports this direction of travel. Building safety cannot be compromised, and the industry must be able to demonstrate that buildings and products perform as intended. However, challenges surrounding the Building Safety Regulator and delays progressing through the gateways have added another layer of uncertainty for some projects. The answer is not to dilute regulation. It is to make the process more efficient, predictable and evidence led.
The productivity conundrum – delivering at speed and scale
If Government is trying to address housing and skills shortages, construction capacity, cost pressures and the need for greater productivity simultaneously, we also need to question whether traditional construction methods can deliver at the scale required?
This creates a significant opportunity for lean, productive forms of industrialised construction such as light steel frame. It is not a solution to every construction challenge, nor should industrialised construction be promoted simply for the sake of it. But where appropriate, moving more construction activity into a controlled manufacturing environment can help address some of the industry’s fundamental constraints – not least the low productivity of traditional construction methods that are being compounded by significant skills shortages.
Panelised light steel frame construction can increase productivity, improve safety and consistency, reduce reliance on-site labour and provide greater control over quality and programme. Digital design and manufacturing processes can also create a stronger ‘golden thread’ of information, supporting the growing need for evidence, accountability and traceability.
Adopting a design for manufacture and assembly (DfMA) approach to projects helps identify how buildings can be designed in a way that optimises production capacity, reduces waste and carbon impact and ensures that buildings can be ‘assembled’ in the most efficient manner on-site. It creates a streamlined end-to-end delivery process that differs significantly from the oftendisjointed serial construction processes seen on traditional building sites.
Turning pent-up demand into tomorrow’s construction pipeline
Government has a responsibility to create the economic and policy conditions that enable investment. But the construction industry has a responsibility too. We need to embrace technology to boost productivity, invest in skills, strengthen supply chains and demonstrate that alternative approaches can deliver measurable value. For the light steel frame sector, this means moving beyond simply promoting the benefits of offsite construction. We need to demonstrate performance through evidence, invest in manufacturing capability and provide the documentation and assurance that today’s regulatory environment demands.
The next phase of construction must be about building more productively, predictably and with greater confidence in performance. This is where light steel frame has a significant role to play. As a highly engineered, manufacturing-led approach, it can help address some of the industry’s most pressing challenges. If Government can create the right economic and policy conditions, and industry embraces more productive ways of building, we can turn today’s pent-up demand into tomorrow’s construction pipeline, delivering the needs of the country.
The light steel frame sector is ready to be part of that transformation – helping the industry move from ambition to delivery, and from traditional construction constraints to a more productive, resilient and evidence-led future.
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