Housebuilders outline plans to resume activity

Taylor Wimpey and Crest Nicholson are among the housebuilders taking steps to restart activity, following updated government guidance. Taylor Wimpey Taylor Wimpey said show homes and sale centres would reopen from 22 May, initially for pre-booked appointments and with strict social distancing measures. The housebuilder expects to recall the majority of sales staff from furlough by 18 May, and most other staff by the end of the month. In sales centres, new protocols will include a “fully revised” set of working practices and staffing arrangements as well as new layouts, Perspex screens and marker guides for social distancing. Show home viewings will be unaccompanied, and only one family at a time will be permitted to view each home. Taylor Wimpey, which had already begun to restart construction activities last week, sold 408 homes net of cancellations during the lockdown, averaging a net private sales rate of 0.3 homes per outlet per week. Cancellation rates have averaged 27% for the period and represented 2.5% of its private order book. It said its total orderbook as at the end of last week had increased by 5.2% to 11,033 homes year-on-year, with a value of £2.7bn, up 8% on its equivalent in the same week in 2019. Crest Nicholson Crest Nicholson has said it will start to remobilise activity on its sites from 18 May in a phased manner. The housebuilder said that this week it would make the “necessary adjustments” to site safety and train its employees, suppliers and subcontractors on the new requirements and ways of working. Despite shutting all of its sites and operations in early April, the housebuilder noted “moderate” numbers of new sales. It said that it had also been able to process legal completions during this time. At its half-year mark on 30 April, net debt had jumped by 37% year-on-year to £93.6m. However, it has upped its cash in bank to £255.2m, from available cash of £185.3m announced on 19 March. Weston Homes Weston Homes will reopen its show homes and marketing suites in London and the South East from 14 May, with social distancing procedures in place. Sales staff will return to marketing suites today to prepare for reopening. The housebuilder is marketing more than 1,000 homes for sale across the capital and the home counties. Bob Weston, chairman of Weston Homes, said: “We have reviewed the housing market restart guidance from the housing secretary and analysed every aspect of our site marketing and sales activities and implemented strict procedures in order to fully comply with the restrictions imposed by social distancing and health safeguarding requirements.”   To send feedback, e-mail pui-guan.man@egi.co.uk or tweet @PuiGuanM or @estatesgazette