The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) has warned against placing too much emphasis on offsite manufacturing to solve London's housing crisis.

A new report recently published by the London Assembly Planning Committee recommended the use of off-site manufacturing (OSM) to build the 50,000 homes a year London needs to meet growing demand.

The document, titled 'Designed, sealed, delivered: The contribution of offsite manufactured homes to solving London's housing crisis', recommended London Mayor Sadiq Khan should;

• Provide clear and strong leadership in raising the awareness of OSM's potential

• Work towards defining and adopting a Manufactured Housing Design Code

• Look at the potential of using Transport for London-owned land to stimulate the OSM sector


• Set up a dedicated OSM-specific procurement framework for London.

However, Director of FMB London Barry Mortimer said while a rise in offsite construction and modular homes could help increase diversity and supply in the UK's new homes market, OSM homes will "never be the ‘silver bullet' to solving the housing crisis".

"One of the dangers of placing too much emphasis on one delivery method, the reach of which is likely to remain limited for the foreseeable future, is that we can take our eye off the more immediate problems," he said.

"One of the purported benefits of offsite construction is that it requires fewer skilled workers to construct homes compared with more traditional house building methods.

"But we cannot afford to become complacent about the serious shortage of on-site skills we need now. In the FMB's State of Trade Survey for Q2 2017 it was revealed that 60% of construction SMEs are struggling to hire bricklayers and 57% are struggling to hire carpenters and joiners.

"As Britain prepares to leave the EU, the skills shortage will likely be felt more keenly still, especially so in London. New research from the FMB reveals that 70% of SME house builders in London and the South East hire EU workers. In looking to the future and new sources of supply, we must not take our eye off the ball in terms of the tackling the immediate constraints on our capacity, chief amongst these now being the shortage of traditional on-site trades and the potential impact of post-Brexit immigration changes."

(LM)