Bellway on Tuesday showed how the coronavirus crisis has hit housing reservations, as it warned of “constrained” sales until lockdown restrictions are eased further.
The FTSE 250 housebuilder started closing sales offices and construction sites when the Covid-19 lockdown came into effect in March. Around that time people were urged to avoid moving where possible.
Bellway, which started to reopen construction sites and sales offices on a phased basis last month, today said sales activity has “remained restrained” since initially closing its sales offices.
The number of reservations it got for new homes averaged 71 per week between March 23 and May 31. The figure for March 25 to June 2 in 2019 was 231 per week.
Between August 1 2019 to May 31 2020, the group completed the sale of 6,721 homes, compared to 7674 between August 2018 and June 2 2019.
Last month the government eased restrictions in the sector, and said estate agents’ offices and show homes could open, and viewings were permitted. However the wider lockdown is still in place.
Bellway, led by Jason Honeyman, said: “Pricing has remained firm and our sales centre reopening programme is leading to a gradual pick-up in customer interest. Notwithstanding this, we expect year-on-year sales activity to be severely constrained until a time when lockdown restrictions are further lifted.”
Finance chief Keith Adey pointed out sites in Scotland remain closed due to guidelines there, and all customers have to pre-book appointments rather than just turn up.
The firm said however that its order book remains “substantial”. As at May 31 it stood at £1.56 billion, representing 6038 homes that customers have put orders in for. A year earlier it was £1.64 billion for 6312 homes.
