New Zealand has launched the KiwiBuild programme to improve the productivity of its building and construction capacity through offsite manufacturing
The government is taking action to ensure that the construction industry is ready and able to deliver greater quantities of warm, dry, affordable homes by promoting the use of offsite construction, says housing minister Megan Woods.
Woods said: “Under this government, we’re building the most homes since the 1970s, with a record $13bn [~£6.57bn] of residential construction in the last year, but we need to do even more to tackle the housing shortage. We need to find new ways to get houses built more quickly and offsite manufacturing is one of the ways we will do this.
“Offsite manufacturing has the potential to transform the building sector, and drive innovative ways to build homes at lower cost, and in faster timeframes. It can significantly change the way we build homes because builders won’t have to contend with external elements like the weather.
“Housing New Zealand has found that using OSM new builds can be delivered in half the time as conventional building techniques.”
The government has been working with offsite manufacturing companies to identify opportunities to work with KiwiBuild to innovate, scale-up, and to make quality housing more affordable.
“The scale of the KiwiBuild programme, especially when aligned with the other arms of the Government’s build programme creates a fantastic opportunity to supercharge the use of offsite manufacturing in New Zealand.
“The demand these programmes create has the potential for the construction and development industry to make confident investments in their people and new technology. It could play an important role in smoothing out the ‘boom-bust’ cycle that has plagued the sector in the past, and help prevent another housing shortage emerging in the future.
“Therefore, I expect Kāinga Ora to optimise its operating practices to ensure the entity’s base demand facilitates the adoption of OSM and other future innovations – where they produce more affordable and better housing supply for New Zealanders, and align with wider Government goals – such as CarbonZero, skills development, energy efficiency, and regional economic development,” added Woods.
