Wooden house building: trends and prospects

The volume of wooden housing construction is only growing over time. Read about the results of 2023, forecasts for 2024 and the prospects for wooden housing construction in Russia in this news.

Wooden house-building in Russia has traveled a path of thousands of years - from traditional log cabins to modern countryside “smart” cottages. Recently, interest in building houses from wood is only growing, which is due to the undeniable advantages of wood as a building material: environmental friendliness, affordability and high thermal insulation properties, which is extremely important in the Russian winter.

Wooden Housebuilding in 2023-2024.

According to Rosselkhozbank, at the end of 2023, 15.7 million square meters of housing made of wood was built in Russia, which amounted to 14.2% of the total volume of housing construction. Over the past year, 207 apartment buildings made of wood were built in Russia - 57% more than in 2022. The annual volume of timber home construction increased by more than 8 million square meters over the 10-year interval. At the end of 2023, the volume of wood construction doubled compared to 2013. Forecast values for 2024 are even higher - analysts expect that by the end of the year, the volume of construction of wooden houses will reach the mark of 18 million square meters. In this case, their share in the total volume of construction will amount to 15%.

In parallel, the popularity of prefabricated house sets is growing. As of May 2024, the demand for wooden house kits for housing construction increased by 15% compared to the same period in 2023. "Builders and end-users are increasingly realizing the benefit of using factory-made kits in timber construction. This helps to reduce the construction period, improve its quality and reduce labor costs", - commented Semyon Goglev, Director of Strategic Development of the Wooden House Building Association.

Forecast for the development of wooden house building up to 2030

Several trends have a positive impact on the development of wood house building. Firstly, government subsidized preferential programs valid until 2030: family mortgage, Far East and Arctic mortgage, IT-mortgage. The share of wooden houses in the segment of countryside construction has increased up to 30-35% thanks to government subsidized programs, according to Roslesinforg. Secondly, the “overheating” of the apartment building market plays its role - in some regions, building a private house may be cheaper than buying an apartment in a high-rise building. By 2028, according to Rosselkhozbank's estimates, the volume of wooden house building may reach 27 million square meters.

Pavel Bilibin, Vice President of the Union of Timber Producers and Timber Exporters of Russia, assesses the wooden house building market as very promising. According to the expert, by 2030 this segment may grow from the current 4.3 million cubic meters to 7.2 million cubic meters. Moreover, the construction of wooden houses can become a powerful driver of the development of the entire timber industry in the current difficult conditions of export restrictions, reduced logging and lumber output. "Increasing the volume of construction of high-quality frame houses, including those with higher allowable storeys, will not only help to solve the issue of coniferous sawn timber shortage, but also create demand for hardwood boards and wall constructions ”, believes Alexander Shangin, General Director of VLP Group of Companies.

Multi-storey wooden construction: are the prospects great?

In 2022, a pilot project for the construction of wooden high-rise buildings was successfully completed in Russia. In Sokol, Vologda Region, Segezha Group erected two four-storey buildings made of CLT panels. The total area is about 3.5 thousand square meters. Taking into account the successful experience, the Ministry of Construction started to study the construction of wooden houses up to 12 floors high.

Multistory buildings made of modern wooden building materials have significant advantages over traditional concrete and brick structures. In addition to the obvious environmental friendliness and energy efficiency, they are also quick and easy to construct. Thus, multi-storey buildings made of CLT-panels are built on average 4 times faster than buildings made of iron and concrete. Wood is also 5 times lighter than reinforced concrete, so less special equipment is required for transportation of construction materials. At the same time, while the construction of wooden high-rise buildings is not put on the stream, the price of 1 square meter in them is 10-15% higher than in high-rise buildings made of concrete.

The growth of multi-storey wooden construction may be facilitated by legislative initiatives related to the construction of houses made of wood with a height of five or more floors. If the regulations are approved, Natalia Khudyakova, Head of the Center for Sustainable Development of Rosselkhozbank, believes that the volume of wooden multi-storey construction will grow significantly in the regions of the Far East, Siberia and the North.

To suppliers and manufacturers: where to demonstrate equipment for wooden house building?

Sources: CIAN, Dom.RF, Forestcomplex.ru, Krassever.ru