黑洞社区

Upmarket housebuilder Cala Group has fired a broadside at planning authorities across the UK, saying the government鈥檚 aim of ramping up housebuilding activity was being stymied by 鈥渢he small scale working of local politics鈥�.

As it announced turnover of 拢747.9m for the 12 months to end of June 2017, up 27% year-on-year, Cala said planning departments remained 鈥渟ignificantly under-resourced鈥�.

There had also been what the group called 鈥渁n escalation of very real and considerable delays occurring to the approval of planning and reserved matters applications, drafting of section agreements and the discharge of conditions鈥�.

It said these were holding up otherwise approved development, the result being that housebuilders were forced to resort 鈥渕ore frequently to the lengthy and costly appeal process鈥�.

Outling what he called the 鈥渇ragmented relationship between the national commitment to increase the delivery of housing and the smaller-scale workings of local politics鈥�, Alan Brown, the firm鈥檚 chief executive, said while Cala had grown significantly in the past year its output 鈥渨ould have been considerably higher had we not encountered some entirely avoidable issues鈥� stemming from planning delays.

Brown (pictured) said Cala鈥檚 goals of hitting annual turnover of 拢1bn a year and delivering 2,500 homes per annum by 2020 remained on track, as it reported pre-exceptional profit before tax of 拢68.5m, up 14%. Its overall operating margin dipped 190 basis points to 12.4%.

The average selling price for its homes fell by 8% to 拢497,000, although the firm stressed this was a 鈥減lanned reduction鈥�, due to the decision to reduce its exposure to homes valued in excess of 拢1m. The higher rate of stamp duty also dampened demand for the top-end market, it said.

Looking ahead, the Edinburgh-based firm said homebuyer confidence was strong, buoyed by high levels of employment and a stable economy, 鈥渄espite the uncertainty surrounding the nature of the UK鈥檚 future relationship with the EU鈥�.