As the media proclaims the death of the housing market, what hope is there for our beleaguered timber industry which is supposed to rely on new home building for a market? Well more than you may think actually. Ever heard of the Olympics? If you have you will know it’s quite a sizable project.
Actually, I can name a cluster of projects that are of equal or greater size featuring new hospitals, schools, MOD accommodation, railways, and hotel buildings…and that’s just in the UK. Each one directly or indirectly employs thousands of building workers and is sucking in new business for, amongst others, the timber industry. Venture abroad, especially to the Middle East, and one can easily find booming oil-fired economies desperate for yet more timber products.
Even the UK residential market may not be a completely lost cause. For a decade now we have been bombarded with stories of housing shortages, especially in the South East. Has there been an overnight change or is there still a shortage? Well, there is a shortage for social housing, so is it too far-fetched to think that in some back office of Westminster there is a mandarin dreaming up a clever scheme right now? Surely the government is as aware as we are that the major house builders are sitting on sizeable land banks – many already with planning permission – that they would love to offload now, at bargain prices.
Stand up all those housing associations and NGOs who have spent the last decade complaining in the media about a shortage of affordable homes. Now is your chance. Let’s buy that land and build some houses. All that’s needed is some spare cash from central government and there has never been a better time to kick start a policy. Will it happen…don’t know. But it’s an idea surely???