Significant growth is expected in timber housing construction in the next three years
Industrial wooden housing construction is becoming a key tool for increasing domestic wood consumption and developing the construction industry. 2025 has largely become the starting point for further expansion of this segment, primarily due to updated regulatory frameworks and the first major decisions at the state level.
Over the course of the year, the Russian Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Emergency Situations have been finalizing regulatory requirements that already allow the construction of 4-5-story wooden buildings using various design solutions without additional permits. At the same time, the Ministry of Emergency Situations is finalizing a set of fire safety regulations for wooden structures. As Alexander Stepanov, Deputy Head of the Department of Urban Development and Architecture at the Russian Ministry of Construction, clarified, the transition to nine-story wooden buildings will be considered based on the operational results of mid-rise buildings.
Statistics confirm a steady increase in interest in this format. Since 2021, the volume of timber house commissioning has increased by approximately 60%, from 10.7 to 17.1 million m2. In 2024, timber buildings will account for 18% of total housing construction and 27% of individual housing, which is 9 percentage points higher than the 2023 figure. These data were announced by Andrei Shevchenko, head of the relevant committee of the Federation Council, following an industry roundtable.
According to forecasts, by 2028, approximately 27 million m2 of timber buildings will be commissioned annually in Russia. Currently, 129 companies produce prefabricated wooden houses, while the cost of building timber houses remains lower than that of brick or concrete structures. Prefabricated houses are particularly promising for social and tourist infrastructure, as well as for areas with special climatic and logistical conditions — Including for the Arctic and the annexed regions.
Practical steps to transition to the large-scale use of wood in construction are already planned. A number of projects under government contracts will begin in 2026. For example, the Murmansk Region signed an agreement with BN Group to construct an eight-story apartment building in the center of Murmansk, a suburban community with over 370 cottages, and two tourist facilities in the Kola District.
Khabarovsk Krai is also beginning construction of wooden buildings under state programs. In 2026, as part of the integrated development of rural areas, wooden housing with a total area of 4,400 m2 is planned to be built in seven districts of the region. A separate project envisions the construction of ten two-story houses in the Nikolaevsky District for the resettlement of residents of dilapidated housing.
