Henry Boot to ‘ramp up’ applications after planning reform

Henry Boot’s chief executive said the company has started the year with “a bit more optimism” and is now ready to “ramp up” planning applications.  In a trading update for 2024, the company said it expects profit before tax for the year to be in line with market expectations of around £30.7m. Chief executive Tim Roberts said: “Throughout 2024, we saw a gradual improvement in market conditions which translated into a steady increase in demand across our key sectors. This, coupled with our focus on high-quality land, prime property development and premium homes means we expect year end profits to be in line with market expectations.” During the year the company took full ownership of Stonebridge Homes and established an industrial and logistics joint venture with Feldberg Capital. Roberts described those deals as “important steps in achieving our medium-term growth and return objectives”. The chief executive added: “Looking forward, we have started 2025 with a bit more optimism, albeit while the reduction in interest rates provided a welcome boost to the economy, the trend downwards is now anticipated to be at a slightly slower pace than previously expected. The improvements to the planning system we have already seen under the new government also give us confidence, and we therefore intend to ramp up our planning applications, with a further 10,000 plots expected to be made in 2025.”