Policy Conference 2025 | Strong commitment to UK timber from Government Minister

Andy Leitch, Deputy CEO of Confor, welcomed the positive words and highlighted the need for delivery: "We have made huge progress - and there is a much more positive attitude towards productive forestry - but the key statement [by the Minister] is about delivery.

"If we can deliver, it could be transformational in economic and environmental terms and the impact on national targets."

The focus had to be on increasing the use of home-grown timber in construction, he said, stressing that we had to plant the trees [productive conifers] that industry needed.

Mr Leitch said all the major UK house-builders had invested in timber-frame manufacturing plants. Although they have not been activated yet, he said this signalled a clear direction for the industry, with the capacity to build around 100,000 homes using timber frames. 

Currently, only around 10% of new homes are built with timber frames in England, compared to 90% in Scotland. Several speakers noted the potential to increase the use of home-grown timber in construction by pushing up the percentage of timber-frame new-builds in England.

Mr Leitch said there were positive signs of the market for timber in construction increasing, but also challenges with long-term supply. More UK timber will come to market over the next 15 years, but supply challenges will hit in the early 2040s, with a potential timber shortfall of around 1 million cubic metres in England by then. At least 40,000 hectares of new productive conifer planting (and probably closer to 100,000 ha) would be needed to bridge the gap.

Pat Glennon, Joint Managing Director of Glennon Brothers, described a  tight supply chain which sees Scottish-grown timber transported to the company’s sawmill in Troon, Ayrshire (35% of it by sea) - then moved to Alexanders Timber Design (ATD) six miles away in Irvine after being cut, graded and treated. The timber frames made at ATD are then sent out to housebuilding locations in Scotland for on-site assembly.

Glennons is manufacturing 2,500 timber frame units annually, using recently-installed robotic technology, and had the capacity to increase this to 3,500 by adding a third shift. Mr Glennon said there were opportunities to copy Glennons’ sustainable “Forest to Front Door” supply chains - "an exceptional example of a circular economy" - in other parts of the UK.

He concluded by saying that "realistic but demanding afforestation targets" were needed to underpin the future of the UK wood processing industry.

Tim den Dekker, Associate Architect at Feilden Clegg Bradley, said the timber industry had to be more sophisticated in terms of measuring and proving the carbon benefits of timber. Better methodology and data were needed, as well as clarity, certainty and direction - which could potentially be delivered by new regulation, he said. Mr den Dekker also challenged the industry to ask whether buildings could be better long-term carbon stores than forests - especially as forests were increasingly susceptible to wildfires.