TDUK’s Chief Executive, David Hopkins, appeared before the Built Environment Committee on 23 June 2026 to discuss how the timber supply chain can support the delivery of the UK’s New Towns programme. An ambitious housebuilding drive, the New Towns programme is backed by £16 billion in funding to support 500,000 new homes and has confirmed seven of the new towns to date.
David raised many points on behalf of the timber sector, including:
- The importance of early engagement between the New Towns team and materials supply chains, alongside long-term demand pipelines, to give businesses the confidence to invest.
- How timber frame manufacturing is already expanding across the UK to help address skills shortages, with all major housebuilders now investing in their own factories.
- The strength of the UK timber supply chain to support the New Towns programme, with sawmills and manufacturers able to ramp up capacity to meet developer timelines.
- How Government can embrace low-carbon materials such as timber, using the New Towns programme to drive change, improve skills across industry and reshape behaviours.
David Hopkins, CEO of TDUK
Reflecting on the session afterwards, David highlighted the scale of this opportunity.
“The built environment is responsible for nearly 40% of emissions and is nowhere near fit for future climate scenarios,” he noted. “The New Towns programme gives us the opportunity to reimagine how we build – regulating embodied as well as operational carbon, creating places fit for the future, and using urban development to stimulate rural business and forest growth.”
While a programme on the scale of New Towns does of course face many challenges, David made clear that the biggest one lies not in industry capability – the timber sector is ready and able – but in the lack of sufficient pace from Government.
“Industry needs confidence that these developments will actually be built. That means providing clear signals for investment after years of flatlining demand: buying the land, establishing local delivery organisations, engaging communities and colleges, supporting skills development, and setting consistent standards that give the supply chain certainty about what it is delivering.”
“The capability is there. The ambition is there. Now Government needs to stop dithering and let industry get on with delivering the homes and communities the UK needs.”
You can watch his testimony on behalf of the UK timber supply chain, using the link below:
