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Committee’s report on modern methods of construction needs further consideration by housing minister.
The UK’s Housing Minister, Lee Rowley, has requested additional time to respond to a House of Lords committee’s report on modern methods of construction (MMC), as the industry faces a series of exits. The Lords built environment committee completed its inquiry into MMC in January, criticising the government’s efforts to promote MMC as “in disarray” and lacking a coherent strategy.
The inquiry was initiated following the closure of L&G Modular and the collapse of House by Urban Splash and Ilke Homes. Since then, more industry players such as Beattie Passive and Lighthouse have filed notices to appoint administrators, and Modulous was liquidated in late January.
In his interim response, Minister Rowley found the report “extremely helpful” in highlighting areas for future focus and raising key questions that require further consideration by the government. He expressed a desire to give more detailed consideration to the development of MMC policy and how the Department can best support the sector, which will take some time. Consequently, he has asked the committee for permission to delay a full response until late spring.
Committee chair Lord Moylan has accepted the government’s response but has requested Rowley to specify the exact timing of the full response. The committee’s report had initially called for the government to publish a comprehensive MMC strategy by the end of February. It also recommended that MMC requirements within the Affordable Homes programme be more targeted at category one and two MMC and questioned the status of the government’s MMC taskforce.
