UK housebuilding under pressure from global timber shortage 25 May, 2021 SHARE Global timber shortages have put the UK housebuilding industry’s supply chain in the eye of a perfect storm – with faltering availability and rapidly rising costs of basic materials such as roofing batten.
This presents a serious challenge to the housebuilding industry – and one it must face and deal with as a group.
That is the stark message from some of the leading businesses and organisations from the roofing industry, which are expressing grave concerns about extremely low availability of European softwood (the raw material used to produce roofing batten) at a time of sustained high levels of demand from the housebuilding industry, as it continues to recover from all the disruption caused by the pandemic.
Roofing and cladding contractors are saddled with retentions to the tune of £300m,
Construction News can reveal.
The survey by the National Federation of Roofing Contractors (NFRC) of 200 of its members revealed an average of 5.8 per cent of a contractor s turnover is held in retention. This equates to around £300m in retentions across firms in the building envelope market, the trade body claimed.
NFRC chief executive James Talman said the continued use of retentions risked a cashflow crunch during which firms will start going to the wall . There are many, much more appropriate ways of guaranteeing quality that doesn t tie up so much of a sub-contractor s working capital, yet the industry clings onto this outdated system, he said. The government must set the example by removing retentions entirely from all its own contracts – as well as through any government-supported schemes such as Help-to-Buy. We need more than just high-level statements, but firm commitments .
And while a record 42% drop in trade exports from the UK to the EU in January partially rebounded in February, exports in the other direction have seen a much weaker recovery.
EU imports increased by just £1.2bn in February after a record fall of £6.7bn in January, according to the latest ONS figures.
The issues have been outlined in Aecom’s market forecast for Building, which predicts tender prices rising by 2.4% from the second quarter of this year to the second quarter of 2022 and 3% for the following 12 months.
The UK-specific cost pressures are happening against the backdrop of global material shortages caused by supply constraints and increased demand, especially in the US.
Sat 8 May 2021 03.00 EDT
UK homeowners face higher bills for renovation work as builders grapple with soaring material costs and shortages of essentials ranging from concrete and timber to taps and roof tiles in a booming housing market.
“It is a bit like going to Sainsbury’s and them not having any bread, milk or eggs in,” said Paul Bence, the managing director of builders merchants Bence, of the runaway demand for supplies that is emptying shelves. “Cement is our bread and butter and we would normally keep a good 10 days stock. We would not operate a ‘just-in-time’ model … but that’s effectively where we are right now.”
Roofers share concern over material shortages in 2021 11 February, 2021 SHARE Almost half of roofing and cladding contractors put material shortages at the top of the list, according to a new State of the Roofing Industry Survey.
When asked to rank their top three concerns for 2021, almost half of roofing and cladding contractors (48%) put material shortages at the top of the list, according to a new State of the Roofing Industry Survey, produced by Glenigan for the National Federation of Roofing Contractors.
Roof tiles were the most common material shortage reported by roofing contractors in the final quarter of 2020, with almost half of firms struggling to get hold of them (49%). Roofers also listed timber and battens (17%), slates (14%) and insulation (five per cent) as other materials in shortage.