Housebuilder says it will hit 2,000 completions for the year
Gleeson has told the stock market it expects to deliver results “in line with market expectations” despite planning congestion.
The £288 million-turnover housebuilder said today it expects to sell around 900 homes in the first half of the year to 31 December and “not less” than the 2,000 homes it has previously forecast for the full year to 30 June, 2022.
The firm’s chair Dermot Gleeson said demand for homes is strong, with the average selling price on new reservations since the start of the financial year 12% higher than in the same period last year.
Gleeson said: “Despite the widely reported challenges faced by the house building industry, including supply issues, increases in material & labour costs and planning delays, the business is performing well and the board expects to deliver a result for the current year in line with market expectations.”
However he also said that “congestion in the planning system” has delayed work.
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It is currently actively selling on 60 sites, compared with 65 sites this time last year.
It said: “As a result of continued congestion in the planning system, not least as a result of a shortage of staff in council planning departments, there have been some delays to site acquisitions and site starts.
“With an improvement in the planning process we expect to acquire and open a total of 25 sites during the year to June 2022.”
He added that the planning system congestion had also delayed a number of site consents, but that he now expected these will be granted during the second half of the current financial year.
Gleeson Homes has a land pipeline of 15,384 plots with a gross development value of £2.4 billion, of which 7,961 plots are owned and 7,423 are conditionally purchased.
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