New housing minister Lee Rowley has dismissed the collapse of a number of modular constructing corporations as “not surprising” and described the sector as a “work in progress”.

The long-standing MP for North East Derbyshire, who has been in his present ministerial publish lower than a month, instructed MPs that boosting fashionable strategies of building (MMC) was a precedence.

A string of progressive contractors have collapsed lately.

Yorkshire-based modular housebuilder Ilke Properties entered administration this summer time after failing to discover a purchaser; City Splash’s modular spin-off entered administration in Could 2022, citing working points at its manufacturing facility in Alfreton; and Caledonian Modular, a producing specialist primarily based within the Midlands, collapsed final March earlier than being bought by JRL a number of weeks later.

The bold L&G Modular Properties can also be being wound down following heavy losses and it emerged this month that the Nationwide Home Constructing Council had made losses on its modular housebuilding guarantee scheme as a result of variety of corporations within the sector going bust.

Rowley, who has beforehand held portfolios referring to building and constructing security, was briefly given a housing function below Liz Truss earlier than returning to the sector in November. He instructed the Home of Lords Constructed Atmosphere Committee this week that authorities coverage outlined in 2019 aimed to harness new strategies to create higher houses.

“The intention was to broaden out the vary of strategies by which we may construct properties, and inside that to make sure that we have been constructing higher properties provided that everyone knows that we now have a problem with high quality in sure components of the sector, after which hopefully to get… price efficiencies,” he mentioned.

“Do I believe that has been achieved? Not but… we’re in a work-in-progress section and that progress hasn’t been the smoothest when it comes to the removing of some individuals from the market. However that isn’t surprising, in a course of the place capitalism ought to help primarily most of what has been achieved.”

Rowley blamed the pandemic for the dimensions of the setback seen within the sector.

“What are the explanations? I believe a part of it is going to be financial circumstances, significantly Covid, which might’t be blamed for all the things however clearly had an impression right here,” he mentioned.

“After which secondly, there’s a deeper query… which is about how we make this work in the long run, how we make it wash its face in the long run.

The minister added: “This must be a virtuous circle, and it hasn’t bought there but. And so a part of what I’ll do whereas I’m in publish is to try to unpack that.”