Learning lessons from abroad to drive up use of MMC

My background isn’t just housing, I’m an accountant by trade, so when I joined Flagship Group, I had a real opportunity to look at things with fresh eyes and ask questions. Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) for example, has a plethora of suppliers and solutions, and can sometimes be baffling.

As I’m not steeped in traditional construction methodologies, I didn’t have to adapt my thinking around offsite too much. It has always been of interest to me, and given MMC’s ever shifting landscape, like a lot of us, I had to continue learning.

I knew that category 2 MMC – two-dimensional panel systems built in factories and assembled on site – would work better for our narrow rural roads and low-rise stock – mainly one or two-storey homes.

There was a problem though. Our vision at Flagship is to solve the housing crisis in the East of England, and my brief was to develop MMC that would work with our aim to build 4,967 properties over the next five years, with at least 375 produced offsite as part of our strategic partnership programme with Homes England.

That is no mean feat, yet I was searching for answers from an emerging marketplace. Yes, there are some excellent category 2 manufacturers in this country, and many have delivered panelised systems for hospitals, schools and offices but only a few have large scale residential experience.

The situation is very different in European countries, such as Germany, Sweden, and Holland, and even more so in Japan. They have all been delivering panelised offsite homes for decades and have therefore had many years to hone their processes. To dig deeper into large-scale category 2 MMC, I needed to look to Europe and Asia.

The figures across those continents say it all. In Sweden, MMC is used to build 45% of all new homes and 80% of single-family properties. That figure is 33% in Singapore and 20% in both Holland and Germany. In Japan, although only one fifth of new homes are offsite, that is still 150,000-180,000 every year.

Visiting these international manufacturers was an eye opener. The housing sector must build at least 22,000 offsite homes by 2026 under the government’s affordable homes programme. This is ambitious and to deliver we must learn fast. Studying mature MMC markets is vital, and these are some of the lessons I’ve picked up.

Immerse yourself

My first tip would be to tour overseas factories. People were sceptical about three of us traveling to Europe and Asia – including me. But the intelligence we gathered, observing businesses that have employed MMC manufacturing processes for up to 100 years and asking how they have ironed out the kinks, was invaluable.

Share knowledge

Collaborative learning is especially important with offsite, so we don’t repeat MMC mistakes of the past. That’s one reason Flagship Group joined Building Better, an alliance of 30 social housing providers aiming to increase the use of MMC. Backed by the National Housing Federation, Building Better provides a safe space for members to share expertise.

As a sector, we’re only going to crack MMC if we work together and I’m keen to distribute my insights to housing providers, particularly those that can’t travel overseas.

Switch to a manufacturing mentality

We saw international manufacturers pulling in people from engineering and car industries, with experience of designing automated assembly lines and technical platforms. They have different skills from those found in traditional construction.

Revamp the offsite image

MMC homes are marketed as premium products in Europe and Asia. Over here, housing associations also recognise the high quality that offsite construction provides. However, memories of flimsy, post war prefabs do still linger and social landlords, along with manufacturers must invest in marketing to overturn these old perceptions amongst investors, residents and house-buyers.

Commit to MMC early

Internationally, MMC is often seen as the best initial option and projects are planned as offsite from viability stage onwards, rather than considering this way of building later. Housing associations need enough confidence in MMC to take a similar approach.

Join up to create volume

We found that manufacturers overseas were operating at capacity most of the time so they could invest in technology and refine processes. This is particularly important with category 2 systems which have more variability and complexity – it takes time to make panelised manufacturing methods more efficient.

UK social housing providers must replicate this consistency of through-put – something Building Better is helping with. Over 215,000 homes are managed by its 30 members, and it is actively aggregating demand through category 1 and 2 procurement routes, giving manufacturers certainty to invest in efficient processes.

We all know that MMC improves the quality of homes, cutting both CO2 emissions and the cost of living for tenants. But over the past 20 years it’s become clear that social housing is struggling to normalise this type of construction. One of the keys, I believe, is spotting those ingredients that make offsite work in other countries and applying them here. Only then will we shift MMC from cottage industry to the mainstream.