Homes England on MMC: “It is going to get messy”

Homes England has urged local authorities to think of more creative ways to deliver housing at scale. The agency is under pressure to help the government meet its target of 300,000 new homes a year being built across the UK by the mid 2020s. Speaking at the Bristol Housing Festival on 22 October, Homes England chief executive Nick Walkley said: “Whilst government can provide frameworks it is local places that provide solutions. “I would just really advocate the new and agile. Be brave and use those methods to generate the opportunities and the scale.” Homes England, which launched in January last year, has supported the development of an estimated 3,500 homes using MMC. This includes investments in private ventures with Urban Splash and Sekisui and support for housing associations including Places for People, which in turn used funds to invest in modular homes. Private sector efforts have struggled and reported consistent losses, and there have been calls for central government to help drive demand for MMC. Walkley said: “We are still trying to build the agency from first principles, trying to fly a plane whilst trying to build another one inside it, in the hope that it will work when we test the engines. “The scale of the problem is such that there has got to be a period that is going to feel a little messy. There isn’t going to be a perfect first answer.” To avoid innovation in silos, there needs to be better coordination between local authorities and metro mayors, argued Mark Farmer, chief executive at Cast Consultancy. “You have to get joined up and understand the bigger picture, so that needs a national guiding hand so that different combined authorities and devolution does what it needs in those places. It is important as we move to more innovative housing delivery, where value chains become more complex.” Farmer pointed to the West Midlands single commissioning framework as an example of “a powerful way of trying to bring things together”. The framework proposes 20% of homes should be delivered using MMC, and it is working with Homes England to parcel up opportunities. The GLA has proposed that by 2021 50% of new homes should use precision manufacturing for at least half the home. Bristol City Council is working with IKEA and Skanska’s BoKlok to develop 200 modular homes on council land, and with ZEDPods to deliver the first ever modular housing scheme on a council car park. Mayor of Bristol Marvin Rees said Homes England is supporting the local authority to innovate. He said: “There are a number of things that could go wrong, but we are prepared to take that risk, because we are not going to unlock this challenge unless we do.” Rees said the region needs support from central government to set national standards, feedback success and share stories, on top of its own collaboration efforts. “That conversation of how do we begin to move together as a whole is being grown. It’s not easy, because every city is pursuing its own aims and objectives – but it is going.” To send feedback, e-mail emma.rosser@egi.co.uk or tweet @EmmaARosser or @estatesgazette