Bovis Homes to resume land buying as confidence grows

Bovis Homes is planning to resume land buying despite posting a pre-tax loss in the first half of the year after land write downs.

Bovis Homes plunged to an £8.6 million pre-tax loss compared to a £9.5m profit a year ago, hit by falling house prices and a £6.8m writedown to the value of its land portfolio. Revenues for the six months to June 30 fell 18 per cent to £122.6m.

Cash from operations in the first six months swung from an outflow of £11m to an inflow of £75m due largely to Bovis’s decision earlier this year to all but stop the building of new houses.

Malcolm Harris, Bovis Homes chairman said: “There are an increasing number of land opportunities currently being assessed by the group which may be acquired during 2009.” 

He added Bovis would seek deals that allow expenditure to be spread over a period of time.

Bovis saw a 92 per cent jump in private reservations to 901 homes after offering a series of incentives such as price cuts, especially to first time buyers.

The group also legally completed on 738 private homes in the first six months of the year, up 18 per cent compared to a year ago. The average net sales price was £160,400 for each home, compared with 196,700 in 2008.

The social housing market fared less well with only 16 social housing legal completions in the period compared with 227 a year ago.

Bovis expects to complete on about 1,800 homes for the year. It had completed on 1,530 homes to date.