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Welsh government backs standardised timber housing designs
The Welsh government has put its support behind a set of standardised timber housing designs, with the aim of building more sustainable and energy-efficient homes in the nation.
Tai ar y Cyd, a collaboration of 23 Welsh social landlords, have put together a pattern book of homes that can be used by offsite manufacturers.
The layouts are for 15 house types and 18 variants, including one-bedroom flats, four-bedroom houses and fully wheelchair-accessible homes. All designs meet the Welsh Development Quality Requirements and Welsh Housing Quality Standard.
The Welsh government said the homes will also use timber sourced from Welsh forests and be manufactured in Welsh factories where possible.
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A design guide is also being launched to help teams design developments that complement the local area and context, the Welsh government said.
Jayne Byrant, the Welsh cabinet secretary for housing and local government, said: “This innovative pattern book give developers the tools they need to build homes more quickly and deliver against our target of building 20,000 affordable low-carbon homes by the end of this Senedd term.
“I am proud that we have been able to support the delivery of these resources to support our local economies, grow the number of skilled jobs across Wales and increase the number of affordable homes.”
Richard Mann, group chief executive of United Welsh, which includes timber-frame structure manufacturer Celtic Offsite among its businesses, said the standardised housing designs would allow the firm to be more efficient.
The UK Passivhaus Trust welcomed the launch of the templates, which use two building performance standards featuring Passivhaus methodologies.
Jon Bootland, chief executive of Passivhaus Trust, said: “It is brilliant that the pattern book considers both operational and embodied carbon, and we are delighted that Passivhaus Standard homes have been modelled for the house types in the pattern book as the ‘enhanced’ option for social housing providers.”
Steve Cranston, project lead at Tai ar y Cyd, added: “We settled on two performance standards that would be ambitious yet achievable.
“They meet the needs of member landlords who wanted an ambitious ‘entry-level’ place to start, as well as an advanced position for landlords ready to push their ambition further.”
The 23 Welsh social landlords involved in Tai ar y Cyd include 11 councils and 12 housing associations, representing over half of the developing landlords in the nation.
The councils are: Caerphilly, Cardiff, Carmarthenshire, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Isle of Anglesey, Pembrokeshire, Powys, Swansea, Vale of Glamorgan, and Wrexham.
The housing associations are: Caredig, Cartrefi Conwy, ClwydAlyn, Coastal Housing, Merthyr Valley Homes, Monmouthshire Housing Association, North Wales Housing, RHA, Tai Tarian, Trivallis, United Welsh, and Valleys to Coast.
Last year, former Welsh housing secretary Julie James confirmed the government does not have a target for social housing to reach Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) Band A by 2030.
However, under the Welsh Housing Quality Standard 2023, social landlords are required to “fully understand their homes”, Ms James said, including the steps needed to meet EPC A.
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