In 2005, modern methods of construction were first introduced as the solution to the UK housing crisis. Since then, adoption has been relatively slow. While MMC was chosen as part of the solution to the UK’s housing crisis there were many barriers affecting its growth and adoption. Fast forward over a decade and a half later and MMC is picking up pace at a rate that it hasn’t been before. The unprecedented effect of covid-19 and lockdowns has forced the construction industry to rethink its strategy. Think about it:
- Projects were brought to a halt
- Projects were cancelled
- Projects are delayed
- Predictions are behind
- Revenue is impacted.
These are just some of the reasons why MMC has started to pick up pace currently post pandemic. However, for this much trust to be given to MMC, so many barriers had to be removed over the decade and a half. Due to removing these barriers trust is very much instilled in projects involving MMC.
What barriers have been eased to give modern methods of construction the chance to succeed?
UK based manufacturing
The construction industry currently delivers 7% of the UK’s GDP and while it delivers a high volume of the UK’s GDP, that money is also invested within UK based manufacturers. Traditional construction is very catered towards manufacturing staying within the UK. When MMC was first introduced to the UK manufacturing was based abroad. The UK didn’t have the facilities or experience to produce or manufacture homes using MMC. This halted the development of MMC as businesses were unwilling to start taking revenue away from the UK market. Dealing with importing also tended to be a lot more expensive. Fast forward to 2021 and the UK has the largest MMC manufacturing centre in the whole of Europe built by Legal and General, allow for manufacturing to be completed on UK soil. Removing this barrier added accessibility the UK hadn’t seen before in regards in MMC.
Better Quality
Improved quality was one of the main barriers to adoption. Traditional construction had a certain level of approval and is standardised. Traditional homes need to be built meeting banks and lenders expectations so they will happily provide mortgages for them, and they can be bought upon completion. However, initially MMC wasn’t providing these standardisations and approvals. Improving the quality of how MMC homes are manufactured has played a big part in improving its adoption. The industry is now at a point where confidence is much more instilled in the materials and processes involved.
Accelerated Delivery
Up until recently, MMC constructed units needed to be imported from overseas. This created many issues, which included implications such as speed of delivery. One of the purposes of MMC was to be a new innovative way to speed up construction builds and the import process slowed things down. Now with manufacturing right here in the UK, this is possible. Projects can be planned accordingly and MMC projects can be delivered on-site at a far greater speed.
Labour and Skills Shortage
Like anything new when it first comes to light, there is always the possibility of a labour and skills shortage. MMC very much had this issue. There was a lack of expertise and knowledge across the industry which halted adoption. Since then, businesses had taken it upon themselves to become experts. Henry Riley a construction and property consultancy in the UK are a perfect example where an added modern methods of construction consultancy service has been adopted. This type of addition means confidence can be breathed into each individual MMC project as there are experts ready to help these projects thrive.
Reduced Costs
One of the areas MMC was meant to improve was costs. Traditional construction comes with costs that are unavoidable to ensure projects are completed. Initially when MMC was introduced to the market, it was imported to the UK, and coupled with being new it held an expensive cost, again not too different from traditional construction. Now manufacturing is in the UK and the quality has been developed, MMC very much now delivers huge cost reduction benefits in comparison to traditional builds.
What next for method methods of construction?
With so many barriers eased for MMC, it really is now taking up a more important part of how the UK and the construction industry can deliver on projects that are delayed, still meet forecasted residential builds, make business numbers still look efficient enough in the current climate. MMC is well positioned to help the UK tackle quite a few of these issues we are currently experiencing so expect to hear it more and more.