Timber in Construction Roadmap

[edit] Roadmap 2025

On 27 February 2025 the UK Government published a policy paper 'Timber in construction roadmap 2025'. Timber plays a key role in reducing carbon emissions in construction by lowering embodied carbon by 20-60% and acting as a carbon store. The UK aims to increase woodland cover from 10% to 16.5% by 2050, boosting sustainable timber use. An expansion in the use of timber construction in England can create jobs and drive industrial de-carbonisation.

Some examples of the main uses of timber in construction are:

• Structural Timber: load-bearing structures, timber frame systems, which can be open or closed panel constructions. These are typically prefabricated off-site and include components such as floor panels, internal walls, and external walls.
• Mass timber systems: using engineered wood products that are stronger and more consistent, making them suitable for large open spaces like offices and retail buildings.
• Modular or volumetric timber systems: involve pre-assembled 3D modules, commonly used in housing, flats, and hotels. These are built in factories and transported to sites with insulation, doors, and windows pre-installed.
• Trussed rafter roofs or roof trusses, made from sawn timber and metal plates, have been a common roofing method in the UK since the 1960s.
• Non-Structural Timber Uses: Timber is widely used for flooring, partitions, doors, windows, and stairs. It is also essential in temporary construction works, pallets, and insulation boards made from wood fibre. Wood-based panel products like OSB, MDF, and plywood serve both structural and non-structural roles, such as sheathing, cladding, and flooring.

The UK government commitment to building 1.5 million homes presents an opportunity to grow demand for timber, helping to reduce embodied carbon, drive investment in forestry, and create green jobs. Timber construction can play a key role in low-rise and some mid-rise buildings, supporting the transition to a net-zero, circular economy when combined with low-carbon products and resource efficiency. However, timber use must be sustainable, avoiding deforestation and ensuring woodland resilience to climate change, pests, and extreme weather.

[edit] Priority themes

The government has identified seven priority themes to expand timber construction:

• Improving data on timber and whole-life carbon
• Promoting safe, sustainable timber use
• Enhancing skills, capacity, and supply chain competency
• Increasing domestic timber supply
• Addressing fire safety and durability in engineered timber
• Collaborating with insurers, lenders, and warranty providers
• Encouraging innovation in timber construction

This strategy seeks to balance safety, sustainability, and efficiency, ensuring timber plays a key role in achieving net-zero targets while boosting the UK’s construction and forestry industries

[edit] Announcement

New, ambitious plans to increase the use of timber in construction to boost the domestic timber industry, economic growth, rural jobs and housebuilding targets, were announced by Environment Minister Mary Creagh on 27 February at the Timber in Construction (TiC) Summit in London.

It outlined new methods to deliver on its Plan for Change that will help to build 1.5 million sustainable and affordable homes, create a low-waste circular construction sector and drive further investment into domestic timber and wood-processing supply chains. Speaking at the TiC Summit, Minister Creagh confirmed the government will recommit to the Timber in Construction Roadmap, which outlines measures to increase the use of timber in the construction sector.

The amended Roadmap goes further than previous Government commitments, setting out more ambitious targets and actions to increase the use of home grown timber in construction in a move to reduce carbon emissions, provide green jobs of the future, create affordable and sustainable housing, and drive-up economic growth.

Increasing the domestic production of timber will create new green jobs in the forestry and wood processing sectors, which contribute over £3bn to the UK economy. The Environment Minister Mary Creagh said:

“This Government is getting Britain building. Our Plan for Change will build 1.5 million homes this Parliament. Timber will play a vital role benefitting development and nature.”

See also Government commits to increase the use of timber in construction

[edit] Reactions

Forestry Commission Chief Executive, Richard Stanford said:

”To reach net zero, we must increase timber production from homegrown trees and use that timber in our buildings to sequester carbon. The Timber in Construction Roadmap will propel forestry production in England to ensure timber security, reduce our dependence on imports, and address the nature crisis by boosting biodiversity, improving water quality, and providing more green spaces for people. The Forestry Commission will continue to collaborate closely with partners from the timber, forestry, and construction sectors in this critical area of work for many years ahead”.

Alex Goodfellow, Chair of the Confederation of Timber Industries, and CEO of Donaldson Offsite said:

“The Minister’s support for the Timber in Construction Roadmap shows the Government’s firm commitment to a growth agenda: growth for forestry, for housing, for low-carbon skills and for the economy. The timber supply chain is a major economic player in the UK, connecting rural and urban environments. Timber frame construction is a well-proven technology and business model for delivering houses rapidly and sustainably while improving quality. By accelerating this growth we can build more low-carbon housing today while providing a market pull for expanding forests. As a supply chain we will support the Government to deliver on all of the goals in the Roadmap and help build a more sustainable future.”

David Hopkins, CEO of Timber Development UK, said:

“The Government’s commitment to the Timber in Construction Roadmap is a real boost to the low-carbon construction sector. We have a great opportunity to increase our housing stock while growing our forests and reducing our emissions output. As a bio-based industrial supply chain, the timber sector can play a unique role in the low-carbon economy – sequestering emissions in the forest and storing them in our buildings. With a rough value of £10 billion to the UK, this growth in timber construction can also play a vital role in the Government’s wider growth agenda.”

Stuart Goodall, Chief Executive of Confor, commented:

“Confor welcomes the UK Government’s commitment to working with partners, including the timber industry, to deliver the important ambitions of the Timber in Construction Roadmap. In light of domestic timber security, we particularly welcome the roadmap’s focus on increasing productive forestry and on promoting the use of homegrown wood-based construction products. Both of these actions will make an important contribution to achieving the UK’s net zero target and economic growth.”

Andrew Carpenter, Chief Executive of the Structural Timber Association said:

“This is a substantial step forward and we are extremely pleased to see the Government underlining its commitment to meeting these ambitious house building targets. Increasing the use of structural timber and offsite manufacturing is one of the most effective ways of ensuring the rapid and high-quality delivery of these vitally needed homes, while also meeting urgent decarbonisation obligations.”

This article is based on the Policy paper 'Timber in construction roadmap 2025' and Press release 'Increase of domestic timber to boost UK economy and housebuilding' published 27 February 2025, with quotes also taken from Timber Development UK.

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