Leading voices from the UK construction industry have warned of faltering availability and rapidly rising costs of basic materials such as roofing batten.  The National Federation of Roofing Contractors (NFRC), Avonside Group (including Avonside Roofing), Marley and SR Timber said global timber shortages have put the UK housebuilding industry’s supply chain under “enormous pressure” and presents a “serious challenge” to the industry as a whole.  The organisations expressed “grave concerns” about “extremely low” available stocks of European softwood (the raw material used to produce UK roofing batten) at a time of sustained high levels of ...