N.Z. to export timber homes to U.K.

Press, 28 October 1981, Page 29

N.Z. to export timber homes to U.K.

NZPA staff correspondent London An English housing company has signed a long-term agreement with Lockwood Buildings, Ltd, of New Zealand and has been granted a sole franchise agreement for Lockwood in the United Kingdom and Eire. ’■The Greenwood group has set up a new company to deal with the import, erection, and marketing of Lockwood homes. The company is headed by Lord Greenwood of Rossendale, who is a former Labour Cabinet Minister and was Minister of Housing for more than three years. “We found Lockwoods because we were looking for a company which wanted to export wooden homes,” he said. “We looked at Canada and Norway but the New Zealand homes, we believe, are the more attractive and should

be successful on the British market.” The company built three Lockwood show homes at the recent Homeworld 81 exhibition at the experimental housing town of Milton Keynes, north of London. The house was visited by 140,000 people and more than 700 firm inquiries resulted from the exhibition. Two of the three houses have been sold. For the British market, a range of five standard houses, varying from 1000 square feet to 2000 square feet has been planned. Prices will start from about $99,450. They will be marketed either as houses supplied and erected on sites owned by the company, or sites owned by potential buyers, or by holding discussions with other builders on the possibility of entering into subfranchise agreements within specific areas.

The houses have been adapted to comply with British building regulations. Some are due to become more stringent next year, and Greenwoods say they are confident the units will be well within those regulations. Some slight adaptations have been made to the designs.

“Some small points have been changed,” said Mr Brian Fox, consulting engineer to Greenwood Homes. “For instance, in Britain it is not acceptable to have an entrance directly into a living room from a deck, partly because of the weather. “In all the houses we have kept the roof architecture and gallery element which I consider very good. “The quality of the timber is excellent, and although the New Zealand pinus radiata is a softwood it responds in the way a European hardwood does.”