黑洞社区

Crest Nicholson has been hit by the UK鈥檚 vote to withdraw from the European Union, the company鈥檚 regeneration chairman has admitted.

Chris Tinker, speaking at an event on the Labour party confernce fringe yesterday, said that the Surrey-based volume housebuilder had suffered 鈥渁 whole stack of cancellations on the day after 鈥楤rexit鈥�, triggered by predictions that there would be a dramatic slump in house prices.

鈥淲e have not had much recovery in Central London and higher value Home Counties areas where we are quite exposed.鈥�

He said that the recovery in housing sales reported by several of Crest鈥檚 competitors, particularly in northern areas that voted Brexit, had 鈥渘ot entirely been our experience鈥�.

But Crest鈥檚 reservations have subsequently recovered, said a spokesperson.

But he said that the industry had generally drawn back on land acquisitions following the vote due to the wider political uncertainty, which Tinker added had never been at such a 鈥渉igh level鈥� in his experience. Delays to land purchases now would result in fewer homes being brought forward this year and next, he added.

He urged the government to resolve uncertainties over the UK鈥檚 position vis-a-vis the European Union as soon as possible.

He also told the event that the current Conservative government 鈥渃ould be accused of concentrating too much on home ownership, pointing to how approximately 60% of all new build homes benefit from some form of subsidy, such as via the Help to Buy initiative for first time home purchasers鈥�.

And Tinker said that while the overall level of planning approvals was rising, an increasing share of those consents were being delivered on a smaller number of sites. He said the trend suggested that councils preferred to take through a smaller number of sites, which could pay for more of their infrastructure requirements through planning gain agreements.