These are undeniably difficult times for housebuilders. Despite a deep and well-acknowledged need for more homes the industry is grappling with rising labour and materials costs, while a subdued but stable housing market keeps price growth below inflation. The result is a sustained squeeze on margins at a time when pressure to accelerate delivery has never been higher.
If the sector is to meet both commercial and ambitious governmental targets, new thinking is essential. Yet for years the UK’s conversation about “modern methods of construction” (MMC) has been dominated by a single idea: houses built in factories.
The government’s promotion of volumetric modular construction—complete three-dimensional units produced under factory conditions and assembled on site—was neat, seductive, and ultimately unrealistic for mainstream housebuilding. The vision promised an end to muddy, weather-dependent sites and hard-to-manage subcontract labour. Instead, homes would roll off production lines with automotive-style precision, ready to be craned into place.
For typical UK housebuilders, the model has never been commercially viable. Factories require enormous upfront capital investment and, critically, a reliable, year-round throughput of orders. The UK’s near-total reliance on private-sector delivery and consumer-driven demand means the output of homes has always fluctuated. With that volatility, volumetric manufacturing has never had the firm ground it needs to succeed at scale.
But if we stop seeing MMC as synonymous with volumetric and instead understand it as a toolbox for improving outcomes, cutting waste, and increasing predictability, then more workable and scalable solutions emerge. Panellised MMC is one such solution—and it is here, today, delivering meaningful value.
Panellised MMC: Evolution, Not Revolution
At H+H, we have long championed MMC as a means of improving efficiency and build quality. Our Vertical Wall Panels system is one such example: an evolutionary approach that bring MMC benefits without imposing radical departures from the masonry methods housebuilders already know, understand and trust.
Panellised systems offer a fundamentally different financial and operational model to volumetric. They require no mega-factory investment, no cross-country logistics, and no dependency on perfectly consistent demand. Instead, they integrate smoothly into existing supply chains and construction processes.
Just as importantly, they work for every scale of business. A regional builder delivering five units per year can benefit just as much as a national housebuilder delivering hundreds. This scalability is essential if MMC is to have a meaningful impact across the UK’s fragmented housing delivery ecosystem.
It is no surprise, then, that adoption is often strongest among smaller regional builders - those agile enough to trial new methods and quick to see the benefits of reduced labour dependency and improved build accuracy. Their willingness to innovate demonstrates that industry-wide improvement adoption is feasible.
The Future Homes Standard: Why Systemisation Matters
The coming years will bring some of the most significant regulatory changes in decades. The Future Homes Standard will demand consistently high fabric performance and careful integration of low-carbon systems. Larger builders may have the resources to prepare, but many smaller builders will need support to deliver these standards reliably.
This is where MMC-style systemisation becomes essential. Panellised systems offer:
Consistent fabric performance, supported by standardised details
Fewer on-site variables, meaning fewer installation errors
Homes better able to perform as designed
Industry initiatives are already recognising this need. The Future Homes Hub's proposed Thermal Details Reference Platform, for example, aims to make standardised, open-source construction details available to all. Aligning traditional masonry with MMC systemisation will help smaller housebuilders close competency gaps and deliver the high-performance homes regulators and homeowners increasingly expect.
Masonry Still Dominant - And Ready for Its Next Stage
NHBC’s production indicators, published in the H+H sponsored Housing Market Intelligence Report 2025, confirm that masonry remains the dominant form of construction across almost every region of the UK. Aircrete blocks alone feature in around a quarter of new homes in England. This creates a clear and familiar foundation on which evolutionary MMC solutions can build.
Vertical Wall Panels, for example, are simply storey-high panels of aircrete: familiar material, improved method. They deliver speed, accuracy, and labour efficiency while maintaining the durability and familiarity of masonry cavity construction. For many builders, this balance of innovation and continuity is precisely what makes panellised MMC attractive.
Meeting Today’s Pressures with Tomorrow’s Methods
The broader market outlook reinforces the need for change. Rising construction costs, labour shortages, and margin pressures demand approaches that reduce waste, shorten programmes, and improve predictability. MMC checks all those boxes.
At the same time, digital design is becoming central to modern construction. Digital design and coordinated digital workflows are becoming standard practice across the industry. Digital design is ideally suited to design homes around the 600mm module of our Vertical Wall Panels to maximise efficiency.
MMC’s emphasis on systemisation will also help reduce the snagging and defects as one of the most common types of complaints flagged by the New Homes Ombudsman.
A Practical Path Forward
The UK needs better-performing homes, delivered more quickly and more reliably. Volumetric modular was a bold idea, but not a practical one for mainstream housebuilding. Panellised MMC, however, offers a balanced, scalable, and financially sustainable way forward.
By combining systemised construction, digital design, and familiar masonry principles, panellised MMC represents the evolution—not the revolution—that UK housebuilding needs.
And at H+H, we’re proud to be at the forefront of that evolution.