The construction industry has been warned that progress in offsite methods could be set back years if poor design and wayward delivery are allowed to take hold in the sector.

Speaking in a debate on the quality of housing and housing delivery at last week’s Futurebuild event in London, Neil Jefferson, chief operating officer at the National House Building Council, said the industry simply could not afford to get offsite wrong.

Referring to catastrophes such as the Grenfell fire and the Scottish PFI schools collapses, he said: “It feels like there’s a cloud of negativity hanging over construction at the moment.”