Collective Change

Steve Cole, Head of Make Modular, outlines why the new organisation is required and where it sits in a constantly evolving construction and homebuilding environment.

For as long as I’ve worked in housing, modular has been the coming thing, the innovation which will save the housing industry from low productivity, an ageing workforce, massive carbon footprint and poor build quality. But somehow, it has never quite happened, even though everyone in the industry knows that:

• The UK needs more homes, and fast • It needs homes which are green to build • It needs homes which use less energy • It needs homes to be great quality and good value • And it needs new people to build them.

The modular sector is at a tipping point as it moves from an innovator to early adopter market. If we’re going to finally move UK housing out of perpetual crisis mode, our sector has the key role to play. Make Modular, the new trade body, has been formed to support the sector in making that transition. Everyone in the sector knows modular means greener, better, faster housing delivery. The tricky bit is ensuring those outside the sector ‘get it’.

Launched in parliament in December 2021, Make Modular was founded by Ilke Homes, TopHat, Urban Splash, Laing O’Rourke, L&G Modular, Vision

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Modular Systems, and the trade body for the manufacturing sector Make UK.

Most trade bodies, very reasonably, are focused on stability and incremental growth. With ‘what we have we hold’ being, very reasonably, the dominant mentality. Make Modular was set up for exactly the opposite reason. The intent is for the new trade body to act as the voice for the volumetric modular housing sector ensuring that Government and stakeholders understand what the sector has to offer the country and the support it needs to transform our housing market.

Make UK, under whose umbrella Make UK Modular, sits has an excellent reputation for producing evidencebased policy work which means it regularly engages with the most senior levels of government and business. We intend to take the same approach, and indeed make use of the expert economists and public affairs specialists within the wider organisation.

Over the last five months we’ve focused on building our relationship with Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), Homes England and wider political stakeholders. We want to be the first port of call for Government on all things modular and with regular meetings with civil servants, MPs, and think tanks are making great progress on that front. Our recent joint workshops with DLUHC on warranties, standardisation and data are just one example of this.

Unlike the social housing or housebuilding sectors there is currently only limited data available on the volumetric modular sector. This means we are an industry with a limited overview of ourselves. We don’t really know how many modular homes are being built, what standard they are being built to, and what is being invested in the sector. This is a gap we aim to fill.

Our recent work on the sector’s capacity gap is one example of this. We now know that the UK has seen nearly £1billion of investment in modular factories, prototyping and systems in the last five years. We also know that there is sufficient capacity in place today to deliver more than 20,000 modular homes a year by 2024. The sector is at a crucial point in its development. Government must capitalise on this investment and capacity – it won’t have this opportunity again.

Our membership already covers around 70% of the modular homes delivered in this country but we want to ensure we can speak confidently and accurately to Government on behalf of the entire sector. I’m confident that with the right evidence base, strategy, and the modular sector pulling together we can ensure the Government delivers the best possible environment for modular industry to deliver the transformation the nation’s housing so badly needs.

For more information visit:

www.makeuk.org

Images:

01. Steve Cole and ilke Homes’ Dave Sheridan at the Make Modular launch