The number of completed timber constructions was record high last year

Prague - The number of newly completed wooden buildings in the Czech Republic was record-breaking last year, increasing by 12.4 percent year-on-year to 2013. The vast majority were family houses. Their share of the total number of completed family houses rose by about one percentage point to 14.4 percent. The most were built in the Central Bohemia Region. This is according to data from the Czech Statistical Office.

"The number of family houses with wooden load-bearing structures has been steadily increasing in recent years. In 2013 and 2014, due to the overall decline in completed residential construction, the number of wooden buildings did not reach the level of 2012, but remained above the threshold of a thousand completed family houses," said Petra Cuřínová, head of the construction statistics department at the Czech Statistical Office.

For the first time, a thousand or more wooden buildings were completed in 2008. Since 2005, there have been 16,526. In 2000, their share of the total number of family houses was 1.4 percent.

"Last year's year-on-year increase in family houses with wooden structures by 12.4 percent was significantly faster than that for all family houses regardless of construction," Cuřínová added. The total number of completed family houses last year increased year-on-year by approximately five percent.

The most wooden buildings were completed last year in the Central Bohemia Region (528). This was followed by the Moravian-Silesian (278) and South Moravian Regions (233). Conversely, the least were built in Prague (31) and the Karlovy Vary Region (42).

"Relatively few wooden buildings have long been constructed in the South Bohemia Region. Last year was no exception, as wooden family houses accounted for 8.5 percent of the total. A smaller share of wooden buildings was only in Prague, with six percent," Cuřínová stated.

The costs for the construction of wooden houses last year reached 5.8 billion crowns, which is eight percent of the costs for building all family houses. According to Cuřínová, wooden construction is cheaper than that of a typical family house - approximately 2.9 million to 3.3 million crowns. "The average construction time for wooden buildings is around two years, which is significantly less than for standard family houses, which are typically built in three and a half years," Cuřínová added.

According to the chairman of the Association of Manufacturers of Pre-fabricated Houses (ADMD) Vratislav Blaha, the main advantages of wooden buildings include thermal insulation properties, speed of construction, and a favorable price-quality ratio. He identified low thermal mass properties compared to brick houses as a disadvantage. "But with modern wooden buildings, there is no need to worry about the house burning down. The structures are certified for fire resistance," he added.

Of the eight European countries for which data on completed wooden buildings from 2015 is available, Sweden had the largest share, at 90 percent. In Austria, it was just under a third, with the absolute number being about three times higher compared to the Czech Republic. In Germany, it was 17 percent, and in Slovakia, ten percent. The least was in Bulgaria, at 3.5 percent. This refers to the share of wooden buildings in the total number of completed family houses.