Countryside to Build Modular Factory to Ramp up Production
The company will invest £6m in a new timber frame factory in Warrington which is expected to build around 1,500 homes a year. It signed a deal to acquire a site for the factory in the last few weeks.
Modular construction methods are increasingly being used by UK housebuilders to speed up the delivery of new homes, as the main bulk of construction can be done in factories and then the component parts delivered to sites.
Countryside shook off wider concerns about the housing market to post a 22pc rise in pre-tax profits, hitting £73.3m for the last six months. Revenues increased by 14pc to £398.8m on the back of a 15pc increase in the number of homes the company built, at 1,655 homes.
Ian Sutcliffe, the company’s chief executive, said the company was performing better than some of its rivals because it was focused on areas where buying a house is still relatively affordable. The company mainly works in the North of England and the Midlands.
“Lots of the housebuilders are focused on private for sale homes and we’re not. The demand is for private rented sector properties,” he said.
He said that 71pc of the homes Countryside is building came through the company’s partnerships division, which works with local authorities to build affordable housing. The division currently has 21,698 plots in its pipeline, up from 18,717 at the same point last year.
In April, the company bought housebuilder Westleigh Homes for £135m, which will also work in its partnerships arm.
Shares in company were up 0.86pc to 373.2p.
Article Source: The Telegraph
Image Source: Sturti
