The UK will fail to build 1.5 million new homes and rebuild 500 schools announced in the Budget unless it embraces innovation.
Without adopting new methods of construction and materials it won’t be able to rebuild Britain at the pace outlined in the government’s £5bn housing plan designed to deliver change and growth.
While planning and building control are intended to ensure safety, quality, and sustainability, the combined effects of lengthy approval processes, stringent compliance requirements, local opposition, and restrictions on land availability are also limiting the ability to build new homes at the pace needed to meet demand.
To deliver so many homes and schools on such a scale requires innovation and sustainability to be embedded within the initial procurement.
Using the current sporadic disconnected procurements disrupts workflow and pipeline activities and restricts the scale and pace of delivery. A procurement pipeline framework needs to created which clearly maps out the delivery and underpins and supports the designers, manufacturers, contractors and supply chains.
These are the views of an innovative and sustainable business which has received backing from leading built environment organisation BE-ST and national innovation agency Innovate UK.
Gary Robertson, VASO Build Ltd Group Strategist, said: “If the construction industry doesn’t adopt new methods and new ways of thinking to meet the housing shortfall then it will continue to fail to deliver at the pace required.
“Now is the time we have to challenge the status quo and stop thinking that traditional building is the only answer to the housing crisis and the government’s ambition.
“We are already 80,000 homes per year short on targets due to traditional methodologies. Traditional build companies can continue to operate at a pace which seems to suit them and deliver their share of the market.
“But to meet the government’s targets and bridge the shortfall to give people one of the most basic necessities of life – a roof over their heads – we need to change and we need to ramp up.
“The only way to achieve that as an industry and as a nation is to invest in sustainable, long-lasting, value-for-money innovations.
“At VASO Build we are open to collaborating and co-creating solutions with any organisation which is keen to unlock the potential of what innovative solutions can bring to the construction sector.”
Without collaborating and embracing innovation, Gary questions if traditional builders have the capacity to double their output because, he says, it’s difficult to see how they have the means to do it – “do they have the supply chain or material flow?” He also questions whether they even have the incentive or desire.
“You have to ask whether traditional builders are even motivated to deliver the housing requirements. Scaling up on their own potentially presents more risk to them and affects their profitability.”
That’s why Gary concludes that if the government is to achieve its targets to rebuild Britain, which as well as 1.5 million homes also includes rebuilding 500 schools and building 5,000 new affordable social homes, then innovative materials must be part of the solution.
VASO Build Limited is a world-first circular housebuilding innovation
which creates building solutions for homes or schools and other structures using Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) and a new sustainable panelling system manufactured mostly from recycled glass.
VASO’s solution overcomes traditional supply chain issues and skills shortages in the sector by creating a new build system and module with a short timeframe construction.
Precision manufactured and offsite construction means VASO can support building at scale, at pace, at lower cost and increased volume. As the original brand manufacturer, VASO is also able to strictly control costs, guaranteeing price of supply and providing quality affordable, low energy cost, low carbon homes which are quick to construct.
It only takes a matter of hours to manufacture a VASO house offsite. It only takes a few days to build it onsite using minimal labour and mechanical equipment, all while achieving high standards of quality, performance, sustainability and durability.
VASO Build Limited will use MMC to deliver affordable, low carbon dwellings for Registered Social Landlords (RSLs), social housing providers and private house builders.
VASO’s innovative composite panels and build system are also ideally placed to deliver the 5,200 homes the UK government has targeted from £68million funding to 54 councils through the Brownfield Land Release Fund, to turn neglected land into new homes, transforming communities and helping families onto the property ladder.
Gary said: “VASO Build is uniquely placed to support the infrastructure ambitions of the UK government with our volume manufacturing and composite material innovation, creating sustainable, energy efficient and long-lasting build systems.”
VASO was chosen to be part of BE-ST Circular and Advance Materials in Construction Accelerator and was presented at BE-ST Fest 2023 – the UK’s biggest zero carbon built environment festival.
VASO was also invited by Innovate UK to attend a showcase event at the British Antarctic Survey HQ in Cambridge in May this year in relation to concrete and building materials innovation.
Company Co-Founder and CEO Eddie Black was also invited to Lagos earlier this year to present VASO Build as part of Innovate UK’s Global Alliance Africa delegation to the Future Cities Africa Green Building Summit.
VASO’s majority shareholder is Eco Group, a diverse multi-industry solutions business based in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.
