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We also work closely with government and various national agencies and bodies to influence policy and support for the sector. We have strong ties with the Construction Employers Federation too and support its work where we can. We believe in collaboration in the sector and work with stakeholders across the industry, as well as our clients. Has the NI sector evolved over the time you’ve been working with it? NHBC as a business is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year, and we’ve been in Northern Ireland for well over 70 years now. Given the time we’ve been working with the industry, unsurprisingly, a lot has changed! In recent years though some obvious examples would be the rise of volumetric homes – there’s definitely more emphasis on modern methods of construction now than in the past and we’ve seen the rise of BTR, which has been big in America for decades but has only reached the UK and Ireland in the past 10 years or so. Houses themselves have changed too with open-plan living replacing separate kitchens and dining rooms, and better energy efficiency measures as standard. Another major change we’ve seen is the consolidation of the sector – with mergers and acquisitions and big players buying out rivals. While we still have a significant number of SMEs operating in NI, the volume homebuilders have grown in size but reduced in number. There are clear commercial advantages
to them doing this and it strengthens their businesses, but the picture is very different to even just 20 years ago. With economic pressures continuing to impact the industry, we can expect to see more of this in the future. How is the NI housebuilding sector currently performing and what are its main challenges and opportunities? Our main challenge is the delivery of new homes. To deliver Gordon Lyon’s 100,000-homes target over the next 15 years, as per his housing strategy, means as an industry we need to build 6,666 new homes a year. On the face of it, this seems manageable as we’re not far off that at the moment. The issue is infrastructure – namely water infrastructure. We have 23 towns in NI that can’t be developed any further due to inadequate wastewater systems and we need significant investment in the form of billions of pounds to unlock home building in those locations. Many other areas also need remedial works to bring their sewers up to standard – decades of underinvestment have come to a head and delivery is now slowing. I know of some developers who’ve bought land on the understanding they’ll be able to build but then been told they’ll have to wait seven to 10 years as plans for upgrades and improvements to the water system have changed. This kind of uncertainty is disastrous for everyone in the industry. We would
have endless opportunities to undertake widespread development if this massive issue is tackled. Does NHBC have any plans to develop or expand its services in NI? We want to keep on doing what we’re doing and do more of it. Our expertise and industry experience is unrivalled, so we already hold many relationships with developers across NI, but we always want to work with more. I’d like to see us expand our training and skills provision too and collaborate further with industry partners to help do that. Quality is at the heart of all we do, so helping raise the standard of home building, however we can, is something we fully support. We know the apprenticeship system is quite complicated for employers, so I’d like to see us offer alternatives and other forms of early training – we have an ageing workforce so encouraging younger people is essential. We have a huge amount of development potential in NI, and we all must work together to help unlock that. We’re fortunate to be a collaborative industry and I’m looking forward to working with our partners even more closely in the future.
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
Suite 2, Marlborough House, 348 Lisburn Road, Belfast BT9 6GH
T: +44 (0)344 633 1000 E: PVenney@nhbc.co.uk www.nhbc.co.uk
www.nibuilder.co.uk
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