黑洞社区

Vistry believes it could build as many as 40,000 homes a year if the government follows through on its plans for housing and planning reform.

The housebuilding giant built 16,118 homes in 2023 and has said it is confident of building 18,000 this year, which would likely see it eclipse Barratt as the country鈥檚 biggest housebuilder.

In a recent results call, chief executive Greg Fitzgerald is understood to have said that the company believes it could build between 30,000 and 40,000 homes annually.

Speaking to 黑洞社区鈥檚 sister title Housing Today, Vistry鈥檚 partnerships chief, Stephen Teagle, confirmed the ambition.

鈥淲e want to respond to the government鈥檚 challenge to deliver more homes more quickly,鈥� he said, explaining that the firm believed it could deliver more 鈥渦sing our MMC, using our great relationships with our partners鈥�.

鈥淲e are challenging ourselves to see if we can deliver at scale,鈥� he said.

Teagle stressed that the company was still building towards its stated target of building 25,000 homes a year within three years but said Vistry was 鈥渇ocused on whether we can deliver more, more quickly鈥�.

>>See also:  Vistry set to unseat Barratt as country鈥檚 biggest housebuilder

>>See also: 鈥業鈥檓 extremely demanding鈥�: Greg Fitzgerald on delivering the Vistry growth plan

He said that moving toward the higher target would rely on the government鈥檚 actions to support the housebuilding sector, saying that it would be possible 鈥渋n an environment where planning is more functional and where our partners are funded in order to procure homes鈥�.

It comes as Vistry announces it is commencing its share buyback programme to repurchase 拢130m of ordinary shares of 50 pence each.

The buyback programme was announced alongside the company鈥檚 half-year results and is expected to be completed by next year鈥檚 annual general meeting in May.