Timber Development UK

📃 The latest Construction Products Association (CPA) Summer Forecast is now online and available for TDUK members.

🪵 The forecast points to a challenging period ahead, with UK construction output forecast to fall by 2.5% in 2026 following weaker demand and rising cost pressures. Two of timber's key markets are expected to be among the hardest hit, with private housing output forecast to decline by 7% and private housing repair, maintenance and improvement (RM&I) by 8%. This report is a major downward revision from the CPA's previous forecast.

🔗 If you're a TDUK member, you can log in to the Members' Area to access the full forecast and explore what these trends could mean for your business.

👉 Read it here:

Construction activity to fall significantly in 2026 : Timber Development UK The CPA’s forecast for construction output has been downgraded further in its Summer forecast, published today, due to the lagged impacts of the Middle East conflict that are starting to pass through to both the demand and cost sides of the UK economy.

A new TradeNote from Timber Development UK is setting out what members need to know about the Packaging & Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), which came into force in February 2025 and will be applied to shipments arriving at the EU border from 12 August 2026.

PPWR requires all businesses placing packaged goods on the EU market to ensure packaging is recyclable, minimally wasteful, contains mandatory recycled plastic, and eliminates restricted substances (e.g. heavy metals and PFAS).

The regulation does not apply to imports arriving in Great Britain but will apply, at least in part, to goods arriving in Northern Ireland. If you are selling packaged products to the EU (including Ireland) you will have obligations under PPWR as an exporter.

The regulation applies to all three types of packaging: sales (primary), grouped (secondary), and transport (tertiary) packaging, and to both commercial and consumer focused packing, but requirements will vary by type and depending on where companies sit in the supply chain.

👉 Read more at:

New TDUK Trade Note explains Packaging & Packaging Waste Regulation changes : Timber Development UK A new Trade Note from Timber Development UK is setting out what members need to know about the Packaging & Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), which came into force in February 2025 and will be applied to shipments arriving at the EU border from 12 August 2026.

Timber Development UK has announced that long-standing Chairman Chris Sutton has stepped down from his position. Vice Chair Patrick Guest has now taken on the new role of Executive Chair.

The changes became effective from 1 July, 2026 following the Governing Board meeting of 18 June.

Chris Sutton, former Managing Director of James Latham, had held the position of Chair since 2021 and taken a leading role in helping form TDUK from the merger of Timber Trade Federation and TRADA.

Mr Sutton will continue to work with TDUK as an Ambassador for the trade during the coming years.

Patrick Guest, whose timber career includes director positions at Arnold Laver, NTG and Saint-Gobain, has now taken on the position of Executive Chair.

This is a new role involving the Board Governance functions of the Chair as well as supporting the CEO and Executive Team in delivery of TDUK objectives.

👉 Read more at:

Timber Development UK appoints new Executive Chair : Timber Development UK Timber Development UK (TDUK) has announced that long-standing Chairman Chris Sutton has stepped down from his position. Vice Chair Patrick Guest has now taken on the new role of Executive Chair.

A pioneering research initiative has demonstrated that England’s underused deciduous broadleaf forests could play a transformative role in delivering low-carbon buildings, supporting biodiversity, and strengthening domestic supply chains.

The three-year Building from England’s Woodlands (BFEW) project, funded by the Forestry Commission’s Woods into Management Forestry Innovation Fund, brought together leading experts from forestry, wood science, timber manufacturing, architecture, and construction to explore how English-grown timber can be used more effectively in modern building systems.

Led by the New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering (NMITE), and including Edinburgh Napier University, Built Environment - Smarter Transformation (BE-ST), Ecosystems Technologies Ltd, and dRMM Architects, the project concluded that, when appropriately selected and specified, English hardwoods can play a significant role in structural applications.

The findings challenge longstanding perceptions about the suitability of homegrown timber for construction. A key innovation emerging from the research is the development of hybrid engineered timber products that optimally combines hardwood and softwood within the same structural element.

👉 Read more at:

Building from England’s Woodlands Project : Timber Development UK Building from England’s Woodlands Project Demonstrates Major Potential for Homegrown Timber in Sustainable Construction

⏰ What are you doing this Wednesday lunchtime? Don't miss out on our free webinar on the award-winning Armadillo structure at 1pm, 8th July.

🪵 The Armadillo is an innovative outdoor pavilion. It's a pioneering project in acoustic design and advanced timber construction.

👂We'll hear from project architects Theo Games Petrohilos, Ben Hayes & Kaowen Ho (Unknown Works), timber specialist subcontractor Jim Johnstone (ConstruktCLT) and CLT supplier Sen Perez (Xilonor CLT). They'll talk us through the design and delivery of this highly innovative project.

🌲 It's built from a newly engineered hybrid combination of eucalyptus and pine CLT - in which the eucalyptus has been incorporated as an integrated layer.

🪛 The curved pavilion has been engineered to be relocatable. The distinctive sculptural form optimises natural acoustic amplification with individually angled CLT panels oriented to project sound outwards.

👩‍🎓 Learn all about the connections, the assembly, and the R&D that went into this striking structure. Go to the link in the bio to reserve your free place - there's no better way to spend a Wednesday lunchtime! See you there - bring all your best technical and design questions!

Confidence is proving to be one of the biggest influences on the UK timber market right now. While the long-term need for new homes and low-carbon construction remains clear, businesses are continuing to navigate the challenges of rising costs, economic uncertainty and delayed investment decisions.

To help members make sense of these changing conditions, Timber Development UK has published its first-ever Market Briefing.

The report brings together the latest market data, economic analysis and insight from businesses across the timber supply chain, exploring housing and construction activity, timber imports, business costs, skills challenges and the opportunities that continue to support timber's long-term future.

👉 You can read the full briefing here:

Confidence and rising costs remain challenging, says first-ever TDUK Market Briefing : Timber Development UK Timber Development UK (TDUK) has published its first-ever Market Briefing, bringing together economic analysis, market data and insight from businesses across the supply chain to provide a detailed picture of the issues shaping the timber industry during the first half of 2026.

🤖 How are new technologies driving circularity, boosting productivity and breaking down barriers to timber construction?

From carbon accounting and material passports to digital fabrication, automation and robotics, our expert panellists in the closing panel of the UK Timber Design Conference will discuss how innovation is transforming the entire design-to-manufacture-to-site workflow.

Bringing together industry leaders from AUAR, Natural Building Systems, Mott MacDonald, One Click LCA and MiTek, this session – sponsored by our partner One Click LCA– will show how manufacturers and fabricators of all sizes are embracing technologies to unlock opportunities and shape the future of timber construction.

Speakers
🔸Andrew Cowan, UK & Ireland Team Leader, One Click LCA
🔹Chloe Donovan, Managing Director, Natural Building Systems
🔸Tim Garner, Commercial Director (UK & Ireland), MiTek
🔹Gilles Retsin, Co-Founder & CTO, Automated Arcitecture (AUAR)

Chair: Trudi Sully, Director of Industrialised Design, Mott MacDonald

📅 2 July 2025 | One Birdcage Walk
🎫 Buy your tickets at the link in the bio and join us at the UK's top timber design conference 2026!

Greater use of homegrown C16 timber could strengthen UK manufacturing, improve supply chain resilience and support the ambitions set out in the Government’s Timber in Construction Roadmap, according to a webinar organised as part of the Trust UK C16 Timber Campaign.

The webinar, which was hosted by The Institution of Structural Engineers, featured presentations from Louise Rogers, Impact Manager at BE-ST (Built Environment - Smarter Transformation), Rob MacKenna, General Manager for South Scotland at Jones & Sons, and Mark Kirk, Chartered Structural Engineer and Technical Director at Paramount Structures.

The campaign itself is a collaboration between the UK’s three largest sawmilling businesses - James Jones & Sons, BSW Timber and Glennon Brothers.

Its aim is simple: encourage specifiers, engineers, merchants and contractors to use C16 timber wherever it is technically appropriate, helping unlock greater demand for UK-grown timber.

👉 Read more about the campaign and webinar content at

C16 campaign webinar highlights opportunities for homegrown timber : Timber Development UK Greater use of homegrown C16 timber could strengthen UK manufacturing, improve supply chain resilience and support the ambitions set out in the Government’s Timber in Construction Roadmap, according to a webinar organised as part of the Trust UK C16 Timber Campaign. The webinar, which was hosted b...

🏘️ How can timber help us rethink housebuilding at the scale we need?

As the UK seeks to meet ambitious housing targets while responding to the climate crisis, this UK Timber Design Conference session will bring together architects, community-led developers and industry leaders to explore the opportunities and challenges of delivering timber-first housing at scale.

Through project insights, development experience and discussion of the political, regulatory and financial barriers facing the sector, our panellists will consider practical steps to accelerating adoption of timber housing across the UK and unlocking a more sustainable model of residential delivery.

Featuring lessons from Mikhail Riches’ City of York housing programme, Bell Phillips’ research into bio-based low-rise housing and TOWN’s pioneering timber MMC developments, the session will ask a simple question: if we already have proven, successful examples, why haven't they become the norm?

🎙️ Speakers:
🔸 James Turner, Associate Director, Mikhail Riches
🔹 Jay Morton, Director,
🔸 Neil Murphy, Director, .are.town

🎫 Get your ticket at our events page
🗓️ Thursday 2 July 2026
🕰️ 12:20 - 13:15
📍 One Birdcage Walk, London

Softwood import volumes remained marginally ahead of the same period last year during the first quarter of 2026, despite continued pressure across parts of the UK timber and panel products market, according to the latest Timber Development UK market statistics.

The combined import volumes of the main timber and panel products fell by 1.3% in Q1 2026 compared with Q1 2025, with some categories performing strongly while others recorded significant declines.

The report also notes that Q1 trading was largely unaffected by the disruption linked to conflict in the Middle East. The impacts on shipping and supply chains will only become clearer as the year progresses, but it is expected higher fuel costs and delayed shipments from the far east are the most likely.

Softwood imports rose by 0.9% in Q1, with volumes reaching 1.412 million m³. The value of softwood imports increased by 4.2%, driven by higher average prices and growth in sawn softwood imports.

Hardwood imports remained largely stable, rising by just 0.2% compared with Q1 2025. Tropical hardwood volumes were similarly unchanged overall, although the origin of those imports shifted during the quarter, with stronger volumes arriving from Spain and Cameroon.

👉 Read our full report at: https://timberdevelopment.uk/softwood-imports-remain-resilient-despite-mixed-q1-market-performance/