Farmer is chief executive at property and construction consultancy Cast Consultancy whose projects include build-to-rent, later living and MMC housing schemes.
He also co-chairs the residential council at Urban Land Institute UK. Its mission is to enable delivery of sustainable residential projects.
The new role of champion has been created to provide independent scrutiny and advice to the government on how to increase the use of MMC in house building.
The MMC champion is charged with promoting innovation in the sector and acting as overseas ambassador to attract investment into UK MMC initiatives.
Farmer will oversee delivery of the government’s ‘Advanced Construction Corridor in the North’, which was announced on Monday.
The core of the scheme will be formed by a £30m investment by Homes England into Yorkshire modular house builder, ilke Homes.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) said it wanted to make the UK a global leader in housing standards.
It hoped to scale up production and bring down costs enabling eight MMC homes to be built a day.
“I look forward to working with industry and government to accelerate uptake of MMC,” Farmer said.
“There’s an urgent need to rethink how we build homes and to deliver better quality, improved safety and carbon reduction,” he added.
Housing Minister Esther McVey said: “I want to see MMC used up and down the country and to usher in a green housing revolution.
“Farmer’s appointment as MMC champion will drive forward innovation and help the government to deliver a new generation of green homes.”
