Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the use of grants awarded by Homes England to modular housing businesses over the last three years.

Homes England do not award grants directly to modular housing businesses; however, they provide support for the uptake of modern methods of construction (MMC) in a number of other ways.

Our Local Authority Accelerated Construction programme aims to increase the speed of build out and use of MMC where appropriate. Homes England currently has contracts in place with local authorities for 7,514 units, all of which include some aspects of MMC.

Through our £4.5 billion Home Building Fund, Homes England provide development finance to developers using MMC and have also invested directly into a MMC factory.

Homes England’s MMC pilot site research programme will also allow us to benchmark a range of MMC types against traditional methods, to provide industry with much-needed data on emerging technologies.

It is well recognised that new technology and innovation has improved productivity, safety, quality and choice across a range of sectors and we are keen to see the same happen in housing. This is especially true if we are to meet our environmental targets. The Government understands the value of MMC markets internationally, and that Britain could do more in this area.