Wales wants to ramp up the number of timber-frame houses under construction, from 1,400 last year (just 28% of residential dwellings), and is laser-focused on boosting timber production (including C16 and other mass timber products) from local forests. That is according to a new government strategy which wants to Make Wood Work for Wales.

Launched by Huw Irranca-Davies, Deputy First Minister for Climate Change and Rural Affairs, at the Royal Welsh Show, the strategy aims to increase the scale and value of timber grown and produced across the country: “I am so proud to be launching Wales’s first Timber Industrial Strategy,” Irranca-Davies said. “I want our forests to be in active, sustainable and diverse use, providing economic, environmental, social and cultural benefits to the people of Wales for many centuries to come, and this strategy will play a key role in that.”

by ChangeNarrow5633

5 comments

  2. Currently trying to buy a timber frame building to live in and lenders aren’t interested in non-standard construction…

  3. Houses tend to be made from local material, UK had clay = brick & North America has wood = wood houses.

    At a wild guess it’s going to be North American wood used if there is a big push~

    edit sadly the UK also now mostly imports bricks, joys 2008 crash + high costs in the UK. Now are bricks are mostly from Pakistan

    >The UK is importing more of its bricks than ever and the carbon cost of each brick is rising, research has shown.

    [https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/may/24/uk-importing-more-bricks-ever-carbon-cost-rising-study](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/may/24/uk-importing-more-bricks-ever-carbon-cost-rising-study)

    The irony of net zero, cant make bricks in the UK with are high standards of CO2 and labour so we import from locations that dont care about net zero or labour laws. You end up with a system that makes more CO2, I suspect if we push wood and end up importing from N America the same happens.

  5. Architect and Planner here, theres a good reason not just because many buildings use local materials and Wales tended to use stone for walling, but also the Welsh decided long ago that stine was better due to the Welsh climate. Its more robust against wind and rain. Which together ruins timber super quickly.
    Also Wales is rather humid, timber tends to swell and splinter in humid temperatures causing lots of movement in structure which is not good.
    Further more timber is rather quite good for mold if not cared for and Wales is the perfect place for mold.
    There are other issues but I dont want to harp on. Regardless Timber is a quick fix from a moderate standpoint. But we would be better renovating our current housing stock first. There are many many sub standard homes still.

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