黑洞社区

The The boss of upmarket housebuilder Cala Group has welcomed the government鈥檚 plan to borrow an extra 拢2bn to 鈥渁ccelerate鈥� housebuilding on brownfield sites.

Speaking to 黑洞社区 after the publication of his firm鈥檚 annual results, Cala chief executive Alan Brown said the housebuilder will 鈥渄efinitely have a look鈥� at the scheme, with over two thirds of its homes built on brownfield land.

Chancellor Philip Hammond announced 拢2bn of new public borrowing at the Conservative party conference to fund an Accelerated Construction Scheme which will make public land with planning permission available to builders.

Brown said: 鈥淐ontrary to popular opinion, 67% of the homes we build are on brownfield sites. We鈥檙e interested in anything that will help with housebuilding. We鈥檒l definitely have a look at it.鈥�

The chancellor鈥檚 announcement came as housing and planning minister Gavin Barwell signalled that the government is set to allow councils to charge higher fees for handling planning applications in order to speed up the process.

Brown said he welcomed the plans, but with a caveat: 鈥淢y concern is that we need to make sure fees are used by local authorities to staff up their planning departments, which hasn鈥檛 always been the case in the past.鈥�

In full-year results to June 2016, Cala posted an 18% jump in pre-tax profit before exceptional costs to 拢60.1m, up from 拢50.9m the previous year.

Revenue rose 15% to 拢587.1m, up from 拢511.6m, following the second full year contribution from acquired English builder Banner, bought in March 2014.

The average selling price of Cala homes rose to 拢538,000, up from 拢509,000, while its operating margin remained the same at 14.3%.

Cala finance director Graham Reid said the housebuilder had 鈥渃ertainly not seen any Brexit impact鈥�, with some difficulties at the top end of the market related to stamp duty changes instead.

Reid said: 鈥淪elling has been strong, 46% up compared to the previous. We had 20% more sites so you鈥檇 expect that, but even so we鈥檝e done surprisingly well.鈥�

The firm also said there was no timetable for an exit strategy for its owners, investors Legal & General and Patron, who acquired the firm in 2013. Brown said the company鈥檚 focus was on achieving its 拢1bn turnover target.