The committee's resultant letter to government can be found at the following link:
The inquiry convened to review the collapse and closure of several category 1 MMC companies. Evidence was obtained from across the industry, including insurers.
Despite the acknowledged need for MMC to support housebuilding targets, significant issues have not been properly acknowledged including:
- Building regulation clarity.
- Obtaining warranties.
- Insurer risk aversion.
The surprising revelation is that the government's investment in MMC is based upon no targets, timescale or measurement of success.
Additionally the following findings are also of concern:
- The government MMC task force, given £10M funding, has never met.
- Lack of clarity on the cost of MMC. No agreement on if MMC is more or less expensive than traditional construction, preventing an assessment of value for money.
- Lack of data on MMC usage. No learnings from overseas successful deployment of MMC.
- Public sector investments not insistent on the use of MMC.
- Difficulties obtaining approvals, warranties and insurance.
The last point is understandable, based upon the government incoherence revealed by the inquiry.
Concluding, it will be some time before MMC can re-establish itself, if indeed this is still achievable.
