Last month, when SME housebuilders and partners came together for our first roundtable of the year, the conversation quickly moved beyond market conditions and into a deeper challenge facing the sector – the growing complexity of delivering modern homes.
This is the second of our three-part series exploring the key themes and takeaways from the discussion. In this blog, we reflect on conversations around how increasing technical demands, evolving design responsibilities, and procurement challenges are making homes not only harder to deliver, but also harder to get right.
The complexity of modern homes
A consistent theme throughout the discussion was around how significantly the nature of housebuilding has changed in recent years. With the growing adoption of low-carbon technologies and stricter regulations, today’s homes demand far more technical complexity than they did even a decade ago.
With ventilation systems and heat pumps, to solar panels and advanced controls, the integration of multiple systems in a home is now standard practice and will become mandated through legislation like the Future Homes Standard. This brings unique challenges around coordination, delivery and design.
This new complexity is adding further considerations not only for housebuilders, but also for manufacturers themselves.
On this, Shahir Mahmood, Drainage Design Engineer at Polypipe Building Products added:
“Value engineering in today’s housing developments is not about lowering costs, it’s about designing them correctly, to the right standards and doing so in a holistic manner. This includes both above and below ground designs.”
As a result, developers and manufacturers alike are having to navigate a level of complexity and detail that simply hasn’t been seen before.
Rethinking the procurement process
Another key focus of the discussion was the procurement process and an analysis of typical approaches. In many cases, projects are going to tender before designs are even fully coordinated, creating ambiguity around specification and potentially increasing the chances of reworks further down the line. Additionally, attendees asked whether the typical focus of procurement – cost management – is the correct approach.
Sharing her thoughts on the current procurement process, Katie Dyson, Senior Project Manager at Motion Projects, said:
“We’ve got to get better at procurement, and about engaging with the wider supply chain as early as possible. We’ve got to be much clearer from stage three onwards, on our design, and the process needs to be much more transparent.”
Adding his perspective, and mirroring Shahir Mahmood’s thoughts around the typical approach of keeping costs as low as possible, Harry Randhawa, Director at Triangle Architects, said:
“Often, the lowest cost is understood to be best value for money, which is wrong. Instead, value for money should concern high quality, minimal defects and, ultimately, what is going to be best for our communities.”
While attendees were in agreement that procurement remains a necessary part of the development process, the discussion suggested that current approaches can become misaligned with the realities of modern housebuilding.
Homes are now harder to operate, too
The conversation also highlighted an often overlooked consequence of increased complexity, the direct impact on homeowners. With more advanced systems now in place, there is a growing reliance on both specialist expertise during installation, plus a greater understanding from homeowners once properties are actually occupied.
Around this, Ben Townend, Design and Technical Lead at Great Places Housing Group said:
“We’ve had residents who open up a door to a plant room and think “What is that? How do I operate this?” There’s definitely an education piece required when it comes to homeowners or residents.
“We’ve also leaned heavily on the support provided by manufacturers. For example, asking them what’s the best underfloor heating, or MHVR system? This technical expertise is now more important than ever.”
This point is particularly apparent when it comes to social housing, where resident comfort and system usability are both key when it comes to ensuring homes perform as intended over time.
Complexity is driving risk across the entire lifecycle
What became clear throughout the discussion is that complexity is no longer isolated to one stage of development, rather, it now exists across the entire lifecycle of a home.
Reflecting on how on-site risk can be reduced, Adrian Rooney, Managing Director of J. Greenwood Construction, commented:
“With housing, the uncertainty today around timelines can make it incredibly difficult to plan resources and keep teams aligned. That’s why collaboration and working closely with the entire supply chain is crucial, it helps to spread risk and brings a level of stability that you just can’t achieve when working in isolation.”
Attendees were in agreement that collaboration is a key step forward to overcoming the complexities associated with modern housing delivery, where technical requirements, procurement pressure and delivery risks are interconnected.
So, what does this mean for SME housebuilding going forward?
Ultimately, as homes become more complex to design, deliver and operate, the margin for error is growing. For SME housebuilders, getting it right the first time is no longer a commercial advantage. It is a necessity.
The roundtable discussion highlighted the need for a greater emphasis to be placed on early-stage coordination, clearer procurement strategy and stronger collaboration across the entire supply chain. Those who can bring together the right experience at the right time will be best positioned to manage this risk, improve outcomes and deliver homes that deliver as promised.
As the industry evolves, it’s clear that complexities will only grow. The challenge now is not to reduce it, but to manage it more effectively.
A huge thanks to all our roundtable participants for their insights and contributions to this discussion, including:
· Elaine Middleton
· Harry Randhawa
· Sarah Snape
· Katie Dyson
· Adrian Rooney
· Michael Orgill
· Ben Townend
· Shahir Mahmood
· Alex Fogg
· Andrew Carver