{"id":29560,"date":"2025-10-24T10:49:24","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T00:49:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/?p=29560"},"modified":"2025-10-24T10:49:27","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T00:49:27","slug":"were-not-sweden-australia-must-do-prefab-housing-its-own-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/were-not-sweden-australia-must-do-prefab-housing-its-own-way\/","title":{"rendered":"We\u2019re Not Sweden \u2014 Australia Must Do Prefab Housing its Own Way"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Australia\u2019s push to use more modular and prefabricated systems to address its housing crisis has strong government backing but still faces major obstacles \u2014 namely, affordability and scalability \u2014 that is, according to Mathew Aitchison, CEO of the Commonwealth-supported Building 4.0 CRC,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.propertycouncil.com.au\/property-australia\/opportunity-to-innovate-in-modular-housing-but-some-way-to-go-to-make-it-more-affordable\"> who addressed the Perth Property Congress yesterday.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aitchison said modern methods of construction, or MMC, hold \u201chuge potential to boost productivity and lower costs,\u201d but warned that overseas models cannot be imported without local adaptation. \u201cI\u2019m going to give a slightly cautious answer to what was a very enthusiastic question,\u201d he said. \u201cFirstly, I don\u2019t think there is a single answer around the world. Secondly, I think we\u2019ve got an immense amount to learn from all of these other countries. I think we also have to be very cautious about the way we apply those lessons in Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The S\u00f6dra CLT Plant in V\u00e4r\u00f6backa has been described as the World\u2019s Greenest Mass Timber Plant \ud83d\udd02<br><br>Here it collects offcuts for <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/bioenergy?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#bioenergy<\/a> \ud83e\udeb5<br><br>It uses renewables to power one of the largest manufacturing facilities in Europe<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/sodra?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#sodra<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/masstimber?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#masstimber<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NetZero?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#NetZero<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/JDilTgQUWT\">pic.twitter.com\/JDilTgQUWT<\/a><\/p>&mdash; WoodCentralAu (@WoodCentralAU1) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WoodCentralAU1\/status\/1668788727781654528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 14, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em><a href=\"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/discover-how-ikea-uses-robots-for-prefab-affordable-housing\/\">In June 2023<\/a>, an Australian delegation visited a number of Swedish &#8220;house factories&#8221; which use robots to assemble flat-pack timber houses like IKEA furniture.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Citing Sweden, Japan, and the United States as examples, Aitchison said Australia cannot afford to import an overseas building model and expect success. \u201cWe don\u2019t have those capabilities in Australia in that form. So, we can learn a lot from them, but we have to be very measured in how we apply them. All I\u2019m saying is to the very many people that I meet who say, Let\u2019s just do what Sweden is doing. Pump the brakes a little bit on that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His remarks come as affordability pressures intensify across Australia\u2019s housing markets, with new data showing a record number of suburbs where median house and unit values exceed $1 million, a trend that highlights the widening gap between property prices and household incomes and strengthens the case for cost-effective construction approaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite growing momentum behind MMC, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brokernews.com.au\/news\/breaking-news\/australia-urged-to-pump-the-brakes-on-swedenstyle-modular-housing-model-288295.aspx\">Aitchison said cost remains a major constraint.<\/a> &#8220;I think we need to focus more on construction costs. I think we need to focus more on getting productivity up,\u201d he said. \u201cToday, I heard one of our colleagues on stage\u2026 talking about how it\u2019s currently more expensive to use modular. That has been our experience around the country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/rmits-new-cardboard-walls-to-slash-outback-build-costs-by-66\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1220\" height=\"732\" src=\"https:\/\/woodcentral.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Image-2-1.jpg\" alt=\"Image 2 1\" class=\"wp-image-29561\" srcset=\"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Image-2-1.jpg 1220w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Image-2-1-300x180.jpg 300w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Image-2-1-1024x614.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Image-2-1-768x461.jpg 768w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Image-2-1-700x420.jpg 700w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Image-2-1-696x418.jpg 696w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Image-2-1-1068x641.jpg 1068w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1220px) 100vw, 1220px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><a href=\"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/rmits-new-cardboard-walls-to-slash-outback-build-costs-by-66\/\">Last month<\/a>, Wood Central revealed that RMIT researchers are using forest fibre to make the next generation of fully circular building materials, which they claim are ideal for outback construction. (Photo Credit: Supplied)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>He said modular solutions can be economically sensible in remote and regional locations, where logistics and access make traditional construction problematic, but that urban deployment will be difficult until local manufacturing scales up to achieve critical mass. \u201cWe need the post and plate to get up and running and become a mass system where we can leverage the full power of manufacturing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aitchison pointed to another of the current initiatives as evidence of the sector\u2019s potential, citing Building 4.0 CRC\u2019s collaboration with<a href=\"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/sumitomo-uses-mass-timber-to-drive-global-build-to-rent-projects\/\"> Cedar Pacific and the company\u2019s work with Sumitomo Forestry to deploy mass timber systems in Australian build\u2011to\u2011rent projects<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m very optimistic, very bullish about our opportunity to innovate in this country. So I\u2019m exceptionally buoyant and optimistic about what we can achieve,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aitchison&#8217;s address comes days after Julie Collins, Australia\u2019s Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, revealed that a new advanced manufacturing precinct strategy, which once finalised, will allow it to accelerate prefabricated timber housing at scale, with the new project one of 14 funded under the latest round of the Australian Forest and Wood Innovations (AFWI) program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Minister Collins said the projects \u201crange from developing a national biosecurity program for giant pine scale, to an indigenous led cultural timber recovery project in the Northern Rivers, through to an advanced manufacturing precinct strategy to accelerate prefabricated timber housing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Minister Julie Collins has announced $30M for 14 forestry projects \u2014 including a new precinct to scale prefab timber housing. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/AFWI?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#AFWI<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/ForestryAustralia?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#ForestryAustralia<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/2OBmwPzZlk\">https:\/\/t.co\/2OBmwPzZlk<\/a><\/p>&mdash; WoodCentralAu (@WoodCentralAU1) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WoodCentralAU1\/status\/1980435423244808431?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 21, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cTogether (the new projects) represent an investment of $30 million, with more than $10 million from AFWI and over $20 million contributed by industry and partners,\u201d Minister Collins said. \u201cCollectively, this research is strengthening Australia\u2019s forestry future \u2013 growing the next generation of researchers whilst delivering innovative solutions to boost productivity, sustainability, and climate resilience across the sector.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Established last year, AFWI is a $100m research program co\u2011matched by industry partners and is a key pillar in the Albanese government\u2019s strategy to grow the nation\u2019s forest and wood sector. The program works with more than 20 research partners, including the University of Tasmania, the University of Melbourne, and the University of the Sunshine Coast, on projects spanning house frames, agricultural structures, furniture, and packaging. \u201cFrom house frames, to farm gates, to furniture in homes and offices, to the cardboard products we use every day, it\u2019s clear that the forestry sector is at the heart of everything that we do,\u201d the minister said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>To learn more about Australia&#8217;s golden decade for forest-based research, and why the next 10 years will be crucial in transforming Australia&#8217;s timber and forest based industries, <a href=\"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/australias-golden-decade-to-fully-commercialise-its-forest-science\/\">click here for Wood Central&#8217;s special feature from yesterday.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Australia\u2019s push to use more modular and prefabricated systems to address its housing crisis has strong government backing but still faces major obstacles \u2014 namely, affordability and scalability \u2014 that is, according to Mathew Aitchison, CEO of the Commonwealth-supported Building 4.0 CRC, who addressed the Perth Property Congress yesterday. Aitchison said modern methods of construction, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29562,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"default","_google_business_share_type":"default","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[3,38,50,37,33,46,39,49,68],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[70],"class_list":{"0":"post-29560","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-architecture","8":"category-architecture-and-design","9":"category-australia","10":"category-building-and-construction","11":"category-editors-picks","12":"category-industry","13":"category-mass-timber","14":"category-residential","15":"category-sector"},"authors":[{"term_id":70,"user_id":2,"is_guest":0,"slug":"jason","display_name":"Jason Ross","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/J-Ross-headshot.jpeg","url2x":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/J-Ross-headshot.jpeg"},"0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29560"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29564,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29560\/revisions\/29564"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29560"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=29560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}