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ARTICLE · 17 APRIL 2025

Can Volumetric Construction Solve The Housing Crisis?

Mayer Brown
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The UK is facing a severe housing crisis, with a chronic shortage of affordable and sustainable homes, rising property prices, and a growing population that outstrips supply.

United KingdomReal Estate and Construction
Tim Collier
Tim Collier
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The UK is facing a severe housing crisis, with a chronic shortage of affordable and sustainable homes, rising property prices, and a growing population that outstrips supply. Although the planning system is a key culprit, it is also true that traditional construction methods are not helping with their long build times, lack of improvement in productivity and often uneven quality. However, whilst volumetric construction can do nothing to cut the Gordian knot of planning process, they do offer a quicker, safer, more sustainable alternative to the traditional style bricks and mortar.

Volumetric construction involves producing entire three-dimensional modules of a building in a factory. These sections are often fully finished with interiors, including walls, floors, ceilings, plumbing, and electrical systems. Such an innovative approach offers numerous advantages over conventional construction, including speed, efficiency, quality, aesthetics, and sustainability. In

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