Modern methods of construction at heart of Lords debate

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On Thursday 5 September, members of the House of Lords debated the role of modern methods of construction, also known as MMC, in the housing construction sector.

Debate

Lord Carrington of Fulham (Conservative), former member of the House of Lords Built Environment Committee, put forward the debate.

This was a general debate. During debates, members put their experience to good use to discuss current issues and draw the government's attention to concerns.     

Members speaking

Contributing members included:

Lord Banner (Conservative), chair of advisory committee at SAV Group, a property investment and development company
Lord Mair (Crossbench), construction consultant and emeritus professor of civil engineering, University of Cambridge
Baroness Thornhill (Liberal Democrat), former director of Hertfordshire Housing Conference
Baroness Warwick of Undercliffe (Labour), chair of the board, The Property Ombudsman.

Opening the debate, Lord Carrington said:

'With MMC homes can be built faster than using traditional methods on-site, and it would go a long way towards resolving the dire shortage of skilled construction workers.'

Baroness Thornhill said:

'The number one issue for the industry is the supply chain. There are clearly real issues of business survival when you have inconsistent and insufficient demand for your product, unpredictable delays and workforce challenges.'

Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Labour), Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, responded on behalf of the government:

'[MMC] can help to deliver high-quality greener homes more quickly than traditional methods, which is good news for boosting supply and for the environment.

Our aim is to deliver the biggest increase in social and affordable housing for a generation, and we truly believe that MMC will very much contribute to this.'