Britain’s biggest housebuilder may replace bricks with wood as prices soar

Britain’s biggest housebuilder could turn to wood instead of bricks for new homes as the war in Iran pushes up construction costs.Barratt Redrow, which built more than 16,000 new homes last year, said it was considering using more timber if bricks and other heavy materials became too expensive.Builders across the country brace for a surge in costs triggered by the war in Iran. John Newcomb, the chief executive of the Builders Merchants Federation, said he was hearing of price increases of up to 20pc on some materials.Bricks are fired in energy-intensive kilns, often powered by gas, which leaves them vulnerable to an Iran-driven price shock. European gas prices have nearly trebled since the conflict began. Steel and cement are also expected to increase in price.Barratt Redrow said it expects build-cost inflation to average 2pc in the 12 months to June but warned that “higher energy costs are likely to be reflected in increased building material costs” in the following year.“Our ability to switch from traditional to timber frame construction ... provides us with further flexibility should we see significant movements in our traditional construction input costs,” the company stated on Wednesday.The use of timber frames in construction is thought to date back to the late Middle Ages, reaching a peak in the early 17th century. Timber structures fell out of fashion in the UK after the Great Fire of London of 1666. Brick was the dominant material used in the Victorian era – a period of significant housing expansion in industrial cities.Barratt Redrow owns a timber-frame business called Oregon, which would allow it to scale up production. Using timber to build homes requires fewer bricks and metals.In the same update, Barratt Redrow slashed its target for buying land for housebuilding projects. The builder said it expects to approve between 7,000 and 9,000 plots for purchase this year, down from previous guidance of 10,000 and 12,000. This will save up to £200m of cash.“With a less certain backdrop, given recent geopolitical events and their likely impact on mortgage rates and build-cost inflation, we are being even more selective,” the housebuilder said.“The ongoing conflict in the Middle East is contributing to increased economic uncertainty, including the potential for a more prolonged higher interest rate environment and renewed cost pressures.”The announcement comes a week after rival Berkeley Group halted new land purchase and scaled back investment in its building projects, saying it was becoming impossible to build in London because of onerous regulations and soaring costs.