Following Autumn Budget, timber industry highlight importance of Government connecting house funding with carbon targets

Timber Development UK (TDUK) welcomed the recent Autumn Budget and the critical investments made into affordable housing, energy efficiency and planning, all of which are essential to achieving the Government’s target to increase house building to 370,000 homes per year.

TDUK Chief Executive, David Hopkins, said while the Budget announcements around housing, planning and education will all be warmly welcomed by industry, the "devil will be in the delivery" to ensure this additional funding will be able to create the kind of step-change needed to create a prosperous, low-carbon future for the UK.

“We welcome the Chancellor’s announcement in the Budget of additional funding for the Affordable Homes Programme, with social housing having largely flatlined over recent years – particularly amid an ongoing programme of cladding remediation. The additional £500m allocated for the former, and £1bn of funding into the latter, could provide a crucial boost for the sector and help place the Government on a pathway to begin to meet their housing targets.

“Equally, announced investment into the UK’s existing housing stock to make them more energy efficient, boost local authority planning capacity, build schools and infrastructure, plant trees, reshape right to buy, and reform the apprenticeship levy, are all welcome steps forward from the new Government, and will help define a new era of growth. Each of these initiatives are essential for supporting the UK to overcome the housing and climate crises.

“However, with the Government having promised to deliver 370,000 homes per year, the devil will be in the delivery on whether this Budget is enough to realise this ambition. This target requires house building to more than double in less than five years, even as the construction industry faces skills and capacity issues and must rapidly reduce embodied carbon. It's a shame that the Chancellor did not see fit to tie funding for housing to low carbon materials or low carbon outcomes, such as those from timber construction systems.

“If we're to generate systemic change, we need to encourage and recognise investment into offsite manufacturing, skills for the future, and low-carbon construction solutions. The timber industry has been a critical driver for the UK across all three of these areas as a proven business solution, which offers quicker build times, higher quality homes, as well as carbon capture and storage. Beyond this Budget, we must see the Government begin to embrace timber in construction.”

The built environment accounts for as much as half of UK emissions, stemming from the day to-day use of buildings - operational carbon - their manufacture and construction - embodied carbon - and it’s broader influence across how we live. If we're to tackle these emissions, a foundational shift in the way we design, build and operate our buildings is required.

This means prioritising low-carbon materials in construction, moving away from energy-intensive, non-regenerative resources, and avoiding demolition in favour of retrofitting and improving existing buildings. For further information on how timber can contribute to overcoming the housing and climate crises, you can access the Timber in Construction Manifesto 2024 via this link: https://tinyurl.com/4wvvj3av.

To find out more about Timber Development UK, see www.timberdevelopment.uk.