Housing association’s factory is delivering homes and skills

The idea of affordable housing is often centred on those who will live in it – but what about the affordability of building it?

With the cost of materials increasing there is added pressure to find efficiencies in the housebuilding process and Caerphilly-based housing association United Welsh is leading the way with factory-made timber frame homes.

It is one of just two housing associations in Wales to have set-up its own timber frame factory to speed up the building process and to keep costs down exploiting modern methods of construction.

Celtic Offsite is the not-for-profit social enterprise owned by United Welsh to build its homes for the future.

Timber frame housing is not new, but working from its 28,000 sq ft factory on Pontygwindy Industrial Estate, Celtic Offsite manufactures homes complete with insulation and fitted windows.

Each ‘house’ is then stacked ready to be shipped to the building site and then built in a day.

The outside of the house can then either be completed with brick or render.

Building houses in such a way means they can be energy efficient while also keeping material waste to a minimum.

Run by Managing Director Neil Robins, Celtic Offsite currently employs 13 staff and has been operational for nine months.

Neil explained: “United Welsh has been building with timber frames for a number of years. On the back of the pandemic we saw the price of materials going up.

“United Welsh also wanted a bit of control over its future.”

Without relying on third-party suppliers, United Welsh can plan future projects with confidence that delays can be kept to a minimum.

Neil continued: “The plan is we go up to 28 staff and that will take us up to 250 houses a year.

“That fits in with United Welsh’s five-year business plan and gives us a good foundation to grow. At 250 units a year we know the business is sustainable, covering all the overheads and putting the surplus back into United Welsh.

“If any opportunity arises with other housing associations we would consider them as well.”

But it’s not just about the homes – although obviously that is a big part of it.

Around two thirds of Celtic Offsite’s 13 staff are tenants of United Welsh and Neil is keen to stress the opportunities the company can give people as it grows.

The office space at the factory will be used by United Welsh to run training courses for tenants to improve their options.

Neil explained: “We want to train more people up – that might not be in timber frame construction – but other skills such as interview techniques.”

More than £2m has been invested into the scheme by the Welsh Government through its Innovative Housing Programme.

United Welsh has already started building new houses in Brynmawr using Celtic Offsite and when Caerphilly Observer visited the factory, the timber frames for new homes on Wingfield Crescent, Llanbradach were tacked waiting to be shipped.