Image: Kildare County Council development site
Accelerating housing delivery
The Irish government wants social housing providers to adopt Modern Methods of Construction to increase the delivery of public housing. So what is it doing to support this aim?
GROWTH, REGENERATION & DEVELOPMENT
Margaret Geraghty
Programme Coordinator, Housing Delivery Coordination Office
Margaret Geraghty
Programme Coordinator, Housing Delivery Coordination Office
Issue 74 | October 2024
It is a challenging time for local authorities, with high targets, increasing demands for social and affordable housing and the need to become more agile in construction delivery methods.
The government’s Housing for All plan identified the need for a ‘Roadmap for increased adoption of Modern Methods of Construction in Public Housing Delivery’. It pointed to several objectives, including expanding the use of Design and Build, Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) and an Accelerated Delivery Programme.
Ruth Hurley, Housing Delivery Coordination Office (HDCO); Diarmuid McGowan, Department of Housing, Local Government & Heritage (DHLGH); and William Bell, Housing Agency (HA), have been collaborating to promote this change across the sector, aiming to achieve national growth through coordinated efforts, which they describe below.
Ruth Hurley
Project Manager – Housing Delivery Coordination Office, Local Government Management Agency, and Programme Manager/Coordinator for the Accelerated Delivery Programme
The Housing Delivery Coordination Office (HDCO), based in the Local Government Management Agency, investigates and advises on best practice for housing delivery.
One thing we know is that pipeline certainty for industry growth is key and providing it is a challenge.
Local authorities’ pipeline is guided by various factors, including land availability, suitability, local demand, needs, and sustainability. These are strategically coordinated through their Housing Delivery Action Plans.
An essential part of my role involves working with local authority teams to explore ways to enhance agility in our delivery methods.
This includes reducing reliance on traditional contract forms and expanding our knowledge through collaboration with cross-agency partners, local authorities, and industry experts in the use of MMC.
By coordinating stakeholder input, shared learning, guidance, consultancy and contractor frameworks, industry engagement, and identifying resource and funding opportunities, I aim to build confidence in using design and build contracts and modern methods of construction to aid local authorities to become more agile in delivery options for social and affordable housing.
Diarmuid McGowan
Senior Quantity surveyor, MMC Design & Build Advisor for the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage
Part of the implementation of Housing For All objectives, for Design and Build (D&B) utilising MMC for local authority housing projects, is being facilitated through the delivery of regional frameworks for main contractors and also Design Team Consultants for architects, quantity surveyors, mechanical, electrical, civil and structural engineers.
Seventeen local authorities are now engaged in frameworks and in a position to run mini-tender competitions for their respective pipelines. These Frameworks can aid the procurement process through improved efficiency and shorter timeframes in some instances.
Four Regional Frameworks for contractors are now in place and operational. Once activated these Frameworks are available for use over a four-year period at the discretion of the contracting authority.
William Bell
MMC Project Manager and Chartered Quantity Surveyor, Built Environment – The Housing Agency
The term ‘Modern Methods of Construction’ has become familiar over the past few years. It covers a wide variety of offsite manufacturing and innovative onsite techniques that are seen as an alternative to traditional construction practices.
MMC systems are grouped under seven different categories and can range from well-established systems, such as timber frame and light gauge steel, to more recent technologies such as Insulated Concrete Formwork.
MMC technologies present many advantages, such as reduced programme delivery, less reliance on the presently limited traditional trades, reduced embodied carbon and improved thermal performance.
To grow the sector, consistent demand is required for suppliers due to the large capital expenditure involved in developing facilities to produce these systems.
At The Housing Agency, I have been assigned the task of encouraging contracting authorities to procure housing projects using the Public Works Contract for Building Works Designed by the Contractor. This procurement route will encourage innovation and give MMC suppliers the opportunity to tender for public works projects.
