Fears of a downturn in the housing construction market do not seem to be causing undue concern in the timber frame industry.
The worries have been voiced by the House Builders Federation (HBF), whose membership accounts for 80% of all new houses built. Although the latest Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions’ figures show new build growth in the first quarter of 2001, the HBF is concerned that last year’s 166,400 housing starts, the lowest annual figure since the second world war, could point towards a longer-term downturn.
The HBF said restricted housing supply was driving rapid and unsustainable house price inflation, which could lead to a collapse in property prices.
But the timber frame building industry is unfazed, according to Charles Grant, a director of the Timber Frame Industries Association.
He said: ‘The timber frame industry is currently working at full capacity. The best indication is how busy you are and I am not aware of any downturn this year in numbers. That’s probably reflecting the movement towards timber frame that we have been seeing.
‘This is a growing industry at the moment. There is a lot of investment and quite a lot of confidence.’
Meanwhile, the government estimates that 40,000 more households are being created annually than there are homes to accommodate them.
