Wates is stockpiling materials on land near to where it is building more than 600 homes for Quintain in north London, in case the UK crashes out of the EU and vital supplies cannot get through to building sites.

Faced with the possibility that building materials could get held up as a result of the UK going through a no-deal exit from the EU, the contractor’s chief executive, David Allen, told Housing Today’s sister publication Building his firm had started stockpiling on a site that Quintain had made available at its huge Wembley Park scheme.

“We were talking about bringing in materials early and getting access to warehousing and space, and [Quintain] freed up a bit of land that they own near the site and have allowed us to store the relevant kit there, while we wait to move it on site,” he said.