Potential Solution to UK’s Housing Shortage: Offsite Timber Construction With OSB Panels

Members of the UK’s House of Commons recently received a research briefing on ways to address the growing housing shortage in England. Members were told that an estimated 340,000 new homes would be needed each year to meet the growing demand.

Offsite timber frame construction could be the solution for housebuilders, and MTW Research forecasts a rapid rise in timber frame buildings across the residential and commercial sectors in 2022. Offsite construction is one of most environmentally conscious processes in the industry through the use of sustainably produced materials manufactured locally in the UK and Ireland.

According to the briefing, the growth of timber frame construction is changing long-established practices within housebuilding as the construction industry embraces the idea of off-site manufacturing. The reduction in on-site activity means that, once the building’s foundations are installed, erection of the main structure follows very quickly, typically taking only two or three days to complete.

New timber-framed homes can therefore be brought to market at a much faster rate than is possible with traditional brick-and-block. This also has the effect of extending the building season which, traditionally, slows significantly during the winter period. Housebuilders can therefore be more productive throughout the year if they build with timber frame.

After land prices, the two biggest cost factors in housebuilding are time and labor. Timber frame scores significantly on both counts since off-site manufacture reduces not only the erection time on site but also the amount of traditional building skills required.

The briefing points out that structural timber technology addresses many of the government’s concerns associated with the procurement of housing—including environmental impact and energy efficiency, as well as speed of construction and cost. The materials that go into a timber frame system are generally more sustainable and more energy efficient than traditional masonry.

For example, West Fraser’s oriented strand board, SterlingOSB Zero, which is manufactured in Scotland from home grown forest thinning, with its zero-added formaldehyde formula, is safer for construction and healthier buildings and is one of the most widely used components of UK timber frame systems. OSB is an essential component of all timber framed panel systems and a major contributor to their growing popularity.