Housebuilder Redrow posts record first half profits

One of Britain’s leading housebuilders, Redrow, has posted record half-year profits.

In its interim results the company saw revenue increase 23% to £739M, with operating profit increasing by 31% from £110M to £144M.

Legal completions also rose 13% to 2,459 in comparison to the previous figure of 2,178.

Redrow recently expanded its operations with the purchase of Derby-based Radleigh Homes that will see the creation of a new regional division – Redrow East Midlands.

Radleigh Homes has 1,300 plots with planning and a further 1,200 plots under options in its strategic land pipeline.

Steve Morgan, Chairman of Redrow, commented: “We entered the second half with a record order book, and customer traffic and sales remain robust.

“Given the strength of our sales position and land holdings our growth strategy is firmly on track, giving me every confidence this will be another year of significant progress for Redrow.”

Housing white paper

Mr Morgan rejected claims that building firms were hoarding land and said claims in government’s housing white paper of the housing market being broken were “a bit disappointing”.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said the biggest obstacle to increasing the number of new homes was the planning system. Specifically, the process from moving from outline permission to point where building work can begin.

Mr Morgan said: “This can take normally one year, but up to two years.”

He also claimed the difficulties in the planning application stages is preventing smaller builders making a bigger contribution to the housebuilding industry.

He told the Today programme: “It’s not so bad for the big builders like us, but small companies face a wall of bureaucracy. If I was starting out today, I could not build up Redrow as I did.”

The government plans to support smaller companies through a £3Bn fund to help them build more homes. Currently, just ten large firms build 60 % of new properties.

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