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Khan aims to create confidence in offsite sector

Sadiq Khan says he hopes developers worried by Brexit will have the confidence to invest in offsite manufacturing following the publication of his new London Housing Strategy.

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Khan aims to provide confidence to offsite sector

In an interview with Inside Housing the mayor of London said his draft London Housing Strategy includes a proposal to launch a construction academy for London, aimed at ensuring that workers are given the right skills to get involved in offsite construction.

Mr Khan also announced his aim to negotiate with the government over the possibility of using part of the Accelerated Construction fund flexibly in London to support offsite.

The mayor told Inside Housing: “What innovators say to me is they want certainty which will lead to them innovating and investing and I’m trying to give them that certainty. Brexit poses huge challenges. If the leaked document from the government [suggesting the UK would try to deter low-skilled EU immigrants after Brexit] is true, for example, that poses all sorts of problems for construction.

“The idea is for me to give certainty to innovators – could be prefab, could be modules – so they recognise there are going to be houses built in London and it’s worth them investing because homes will be built in London.”


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Building confidence in offsite manufacturingBuilding confidence in offsite manufacturing

A recent report from the London Assembly’s housing committee called on the mayor to take the lead on offsite construction of housing, suggesting that the Greater London Authority use its strategic partnerships with housing associations to provide the necessary scale of demand to drive prices down.

According to the draft strategy, the mayor “will encourage manufacturers and developers to come together and plan how they can deliver more homes by aggregating their demand”.

The strategy does not go into the specific mechanisms for this co-operation and instead focuses on skills.

As well as the construction academy, the mayor will produce a draft skills strategy before the end of the year, based on the upcoming devolution of the adult education budget.

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