Timber Frame Factory Houses

A factory in Castle Bromwich near to Birmingham is now producing 2500 houses a year for one of the UK’s largest house builders, Persimmon Homes.

Persimmon acquired this factory and the business it calls Space 4 when it took over a smaller rival Westbury Homes, in 2005.

In 1990 timber frame buildings were only 8% of new housing in the UK. By 2008 (the most recent year for which figures are available), that had increased to 25%. Persimmon say that this is still increasing, driven by concerns about environmental issues.

House prices have risen in the UK for 7 consecutive months, and the rate of increase is expected to more than 10% in 2010. This is expected to lead to increasing demand for new houses, and the significant reductions in construction time and increases in flexibility gained by using this system will give builders using this process considerable advantages over those relying on more traditional methods of building houses.