Britain’s biggest house builder is raising its target to build homes using modern methods of construction to 30% by 2025.

The firm previously targeted one in four homes using MMC by 2025 but delivered this early this year following the roll out a series of new housing types to allow a switch to greater use of offsite production and standardised product use.

Its success in switching to greater offsite production was revealed as it reported construction activity returned to near normal production in strong end-of-year results.

Over the year to June 2021, home completions returned to 17,243, just 3% down on 2019 levels and 37% higher than the 2020 shutdown impacted total.

This saw revenue return to £4.8bn, delivering a £812m pre-tax profit, 11% down on 2019.

David Thomas, chief executive of Barratt, said that during the year Barratt delivered 4,393 homes using MMC, equating to 25% of its total home completions (2020: 2,652 homes and 21% of total home completions).

“MMC provides opportunities to address the skills shortage facing the industry, diversify the types of materials we use and build with greater speed and efficiency.

“We will accelerate our roll out of MMC to deliver 30% of completions from MMC by 2025.

He said Barratt had now applied one or more MMC solutions to over 100 sites giving it confidence it could gear up to accelerate the rollout in the face of building costs expected to rise by 5% this year.

“This accumulation of knowledge and experience has allowed us to define the criteria needed to unlock the benefits of MMC and deliver a successful site in terms of build efficiency and sales.”

Thomas added: “As a result, we are now able to use MMC on the right sites to compete with traditional brick and block construction, mainly due to the time savings we have been able to obtain.”

Units delivered using MMC used during the year.

MMCFY21FY20Timber frame3,0032,031Roof cassettes696269Offsite ground floors360143Large format block334209Total4,3932,652Percentage of completions25%21%He added that timber frame homes were a key aspect of Barratt’s MMC and carbon reduction strategy.

Barratt aims to lift timber frame production after buying offsite specialist Oregon in 2019

“We recognise that there remains more research to be done in exploring the advantages of MMC, in terms of design, construction, and use through the whole life of a building.

“We recognise it is critical that the whole sector takes on MMC and delivers robust solutions, and the importance of knowledge sharing.”

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JCB said most of its products are now sold out until next year as demand hits historic highs.

The machinery giant is recruiting another 100 new welders for its Staffordshire factories in a bid to keep up with orders.

So far this year JCB has recruited 1,350 new shop floor employees and handed permanent contracts to 1,000 agency employees.

The firm said “demand for JCB machines has reached historic highs with most products now sold out until next year.”

Mark Turner, JCB Chief Operating Officer, said: “We are delighted to be building on that success with the creation of 100 permanent new welders’ jobs.

“We offer some of the best conditions and pay rates in the region and with opportunities for nightshift work and overtime, this is great news for welders in the area looking to join a successful global company.”

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Balfour Beatty has been forced to push-back the completion date of its £16m contract to repair the UK’s highest railway.

The Scottish Government’s Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) agency has confirmed the Cairngorm furnicular will not reopen until the “second half of 2022.”

The railway at the ski resort was due to reopen early next year following strengthening work on the 1.9km viaduct that supports the track.

Balfour began work in April 2021 but delays have arisen due to “technical challenges associated with designing and implementing effective solutions to an existing structure, as opposed to a new build.”

Work has also been hampered by the impact of Covid and extreme weather including blizzard conditions in the spring.

HI added that “extra effort has also been required to source vital construction materials that are currently in short supply across the UK.”

HIE interim chief executive Carroll Buxton said: “We’ve always been upfront in describing the reinstatement programme as one of the most complex and difficult civil engineering projects in Scotland.

“As well as managing technical challenges, the team has to take great care to protect the mountain environment, and deal with difficult terrain and extreme weather conditions that can quickly become hazardous.

“The original schedule was very ambitious, even without the impacts of the pandemic lasting as long as they have and before the more recent problems in sourcing construction materials of suitable quality.

“With limited time available to complete these works before winter, postponement has become inevitable.”

The funicular was built by Morrison Construction and opened in 2001 but was taken out of service in 2018 after an engineers’ inspection identified structural defects that raised safety concerns.

Buxton said: “We’re now working with our designers and contractors on a revised schedule for the remainder of the project.

“Harsh mountain conditions mean that all work will need to halt over winter and resume next spring. To ensure safety, there also needs to be a period of testing and certification at the end of the programme, so our current expectation is that the funicular can be relaunched in autumn 2022.

“Clearly, a longer timescale will also have a financial impact. We’ll be reviewing costs very carefully and will publicly confirm a revised budget as soon as it’s possible to do so.”

HIE has also approved up to £780,000 for an extensive refurbishment of the Ptarmigan building that sits on the plateau and includes the UK’s highest restaurant, a shop, exhibition space and viewing platforms.

Following competitive tender, resort operator Cairngorm Mountain (Scotland) Ltd (CMSL) has awarded a contract for the first phase of the Ptarmigan works to Simpson Builders Ltd, based in Beauly. The refurbishment is due to start at the end of August and be completed by the end of 2021.

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The London Mayor has secured £3.46bn to deliver 29,456 homes with councils and housing associations from the first round of bidding for the next five-year affordable homes programme.

These fresh grants cement the council housing comeback in London, with more than four in 10 of the homes being built by councils, totalling 12,024 homes.

More than half of the social rented homes will be built by councils, and 57% of all homes will be for social rent.

A further £5.2bn was announced by the Government today for affordable homes to be delivered outside London by Homes England, but details have yet to be released.

The Mayor’s new 2021-26 programme – running alongside the extended 2016-23 programme – will see 79,000 new homes started over the next five years.

Affordable homes programme 2021-26 allocationsOrganisationTotal

HomesSocial Rent

HomesAHP

FundingHavering395161£35.2 mEstuary Housing Association3016£1.3 mRichmond Housing Partnership13180£13.9 mCity of Westminster Council230106£24.1 mParagon Asra Housing1,455930£181.7 mHammersmith and Fulham394186£32.3 mPoplar HARCA227145£21.2 mA2Dominion Homes500300£56.0 mBarnet217105£23.5 mPlaces for   People Homes4444£4.0 mEaling1,032561£109.6 mHarrow –   Housing411219£44.4 mThe Guinness Partnership300150£32.7 mTBG Open Door Homes4810£3.8 mNewlon Housing Trust12080£15.8 mBromley535535£38.0 mOptivo1,500825£180.8 mWandsworth289138£23.4 mHyde Housing Association1,476590£163.8 mLewisham456285£70.0 mCroydon Churches Housing Association12050£12.5 mKingston upon Thames105105£13.1 mCity of London200150£16.5 mSouthern Housing Group300100£33.5 mLondon Legacy Development Corporation825149£67.7 mBrent701701£111.7 mCamden569569£86.6 mOne Housing Group386252£41.7 mHexagon Housing Association18090£24.9 mRiverside Housing Association15190£18.8 mPhoenix Community HA7348£10.0 mLambeth311212£28.2 mHounslow540540£93.2 mGreenwich230230£38.1 mLondon & Quadrant539154£55.1 mCromwood Housing7575£11.3 mNewham550500£91.7 mSutton6554£10.1 mWaltham Forest7777£15.4 mHackney100100£17.5 mHaringey647647£127.5 mBarking and Dagenham1,757573£171.0 mEnfield1,119824£166.6 mTower Hamlets194194£32.0 mMetropolitan Housing Trust1,035538£128.8 mCatalyst Housing1,000535£118.9 mNetwork Homes1,000500£122.5 mNotting Hill Genesis1,265577£126.8 mOctavia Housing450225£55.1 mReSI Homes1,250£56.3 mClarion Housing Group2,0001,250£240.0 mSouthwark852664£126.5 mPeabody Trust1,000500£120.0 mTotal29,45616,739£3.46bn

In total, almost six in ten of the homes (16,739 homes) funded by the first round of this affordable homes programme will be made available at the cheapest social rent.

The remainder will be for shared ownership and London Living Rent which can help Londoners on average incomes move into homeownership.

The Mayor has set ambitious targets for London to be a zero-carbon city by 2030 and expects homes built with funding announced today to be environmentally sustainable.

New standards introduced in the Mayor’s New London Plan include requirements for all developments of ten or more homes to be net zero-carbon and to incorporate sustainable urban green spaces.

Housing providers building homes funded by the new AHP will also have to meet new conditions on building safety and design.

HP funding project conditions

1. The installation of sprinklers or other fire suppression systems in new blocks of flats

2. A ban on combustible materials being used in external walls for all residential development, regardless of height

3. Minimum floor-to-ceiling heights and a requirement for private outdoor space

4. A ‘sunlight clause’ requiring all homes with three or more bedrooms to be dual aspect, any single aspect one- or two-bedroom homes to not be north-facing and at least one room to have direct sunlight for at least part of the day

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said: “I am delighted that we have been able to come to a deal with the Government to get started on nearly 30,000 genuinely affordable homes.

“Today’s funding is good news but I know we can still go further, faster, working with ministers, housing associations and councils to deliver more of the homes Londoners so desperately need.”