Cala says focus on affordable housing “disproportionate and misguided”

The government’s focus on affordable housing and first time buyers is “disproportionate and misguided”, Cala Homes has said, as it reported a record year for revenue. The housebuilder, which reported more than £700m of revenue for the first time, said that although support for affordable housing is important, the shortages in four- and five-bed houses should be prioritised to “encourage movement further up the housing ladder”. It said focusing on more than one level of housing would enhance the volume of housing transactions on every level. Cala also said the housing white paper’s approach to planning “fell disappointingly short” of addressing the barriers UK housebuilders face when bringing sites through to development. It said delays in the planning process, including the signing of section 106 and 278 agreements, the clearing of pre-start conditions and planning appeals, undermine its ability to deliver the homes the UK needs. In Cala’s annual results, total completions rose 46% to 1,677 – up from 1,151 – and 34 new sites were contracted during the year with 3,199 plots and a gross development value of £1.3bn. The housebuilder aims to deliver a revenue of more than £1bn by 2020 with an annual capacity of up to 2,500 homes. Private revenue per site per week was up 6% to £271,000. Private sales per site per week rose from 0.48 to 0.56. Alan Brown, chief executive of Cala, said: “We enter the new financial year in a positive position with a strong level of forward private reservations that is actually ahead of our expectations. “We continue to see good opportunities to buy high quality land in attractive locations at affordable prices and I remain confident in both our near term and longer term growth plans.” To send feedback, e-mail karl.tomusk@egi.co.uk or tweet @ktomusk or @estatesgazette