By Emma Arnold
New cost-effective, modern methods of design are to be used in future house building, it was revealed on Tuesday.
An independent research report carried out by RICS, who deal in maintaining professional standards in property construction, highlights a series of low-cost housing solutions.
By using recycled materials and inventive structural design, the houses can be built quickly meaning affordable housing will be more readily available for first-time buyers.
Dr Chris Goodier, from Loughborough University and the primary author of the report, said: “The need for more new homes in the UK has never been more critical than it is today.”
A key benefit to the new proposal is that many of the designs can be easily extended, eliminating the need for costly renovation work, and enabling them to evolve as the needs of the occupiers change.
Dr Goodier added that while there is no quick fix to the problem of current construction levels, it is important that the industry consider more innovative solutions to development in the UK.
The report plans to meet the demand of population growth in the North West, affordability and under supply issues.
Steve Gillingham, North West RICS spokesperson for the construction industry, said: “The cuts to housing budgets will have a significant negative effect and it’s not clear whether there’s enough of recovery in our region to take up the strain.”
The official launch of the report at Manchester Central today included speeches from chartered surveyors, Manchester-based regeneration specialists Urban Splash and representatives from BuildOffSite.
Jennifer Welch, Operations Director of RICS North, said: “We hope that by holding such a high profile launch in Manchester we can bring fresh impetus to the new housing debate.”
