Timber shortages impacting on house building and construction costs

TimBer shorTAges Are imPAcTing hoUse BUilDing AnD consTrUcTion cosTs

¤35bn sectors employing 220,000 warn Government about impending disaster which will worsen housing crisis and climate change targets

The housing crisis is set to be further impacted by an alarming shortage of timber available to builders, builders’ merchants and hardware stores. This is because of the ongoing failure of Department of Agriculture officials in issuing licences for planting and felling trees which are mired in cumbersome red tape resulting in massive backlogs which could take up to two years to clear. Demand for Irish timber is at an all-time high but current stocks are rapidly dwindling as a result of bureaucratic failures by civil servants and Minister Pippa Hackett which will inevitably lead to rising construction costs according to the forestry, hardware and construction sectors. Forest Industries Ireland (FII), Hardware Association Ireland (HAI) and the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) whose sectors have a combined worth of almost ¤35bn to the economy and employ 220,000 workers has warned that the situation is worsening as the country is relying on the importation of logs and sawn timber which is becoming unsustainable due to demand costs and competing demand for these products. Added to the construction problem, the country will miss its climate change targets as just 2,400 hectares of forests were planted last year when 8,000 hectares is the Government target. These are the lowest figures in decades as the Government fails to properly support and facilitate forestry. Forest industry stakeholders are increasingly frustrated by the Government wanting more timber to be used in building but won’t facilitate trees to be harvested in Ireland. They say we have a competitive advantage in timber because we grow conifers so fast with our perfect climate and soils. We should be building on this great strength. The higher planting rates in the 80s and 90s can now deliver a major increase in Irish timber and build a major sustainable industry at the same time as delivering for house building and the climate. Hardware Association Ireland’s CEO Martin Markey said “Timber is a keystone product, it is integral to practically every building, renovation, and retrofitting project. The Irish timber sector is also a major bulwark in our fight to reduce Co2 emissions. The current lack of urgency in processing licences is having a major negative impact on the industry’s ability to supply products to critical housing projects. Our members are telling us that builders are walking away from projects and postponing them indefinitely. It comes at a time when the hardware sector is experiencing acute shortages and price increases across almost every category. Most of these are global supply chain issues and we have little control over them. Timber is the exception to this, and decisions made by the Dept. of Agriculture have a major impact on the sector. We need a breakthrough on this.” FII Director Mark McAuley said “Throughout 2021 we have seen increases in the price of timber and a very tight supply situation. Builders are coming away from the builder’s merchant without the timber they need to complete a house extension or a new build. This is a crazy situation when we have plenty of mature conifer forests in the country and we are having to import timber to keep our building sector supplied. This situation would not have arisen were it not for the forestry licence crisis and the failure of the Department of Agriculture to get on top of things. It has been two years now and the supply chain is still badly disrupted. We need to find a new approach.” “A lot is said about the potential of greener homes built with timber but, right now, the timber frame companies can’t get enough of the wood they need. This sector should be expanding but it is constrained by shortages of its raw material. We want an ambitious programme of timber house construction for fast, green building but instead we have a constraint that is holding everything back. We need to push through this problem and get back on track,” he continued. CIF Director General Tom Parlon said “Throughout 2021, homebuilders and construction companies have seen huge increases in the price of timber. As we ramp up after a partial lockdown during Covid, demand for timber will only increase. Ultimately, if cost increases for homebuilding increase enough, housing projects on the margin will be shelved. I would call on the Taoiseach to personally resolve the license crisis in the Department of Agriculture that has run on for two years now. There is no point announcing billions of euro investment in the Summer Economic Statement or new housing policies if these rudimentary bureaucratic issues are not resolved.”