Builder who flogged a £99,000 plot of land to his own business

THE boss of regeneration specialist MJ Gleeson is in line for a windfall of nearly £100,000 after he agreed to sell some of his own land to the firm for development.

Jolyon Harrison ( pictured), who lives near York, bought the plot 75 miles away in Mansfield more than a decade ago.

The 69-year-old has agreed to sell it to MJ Gleeson for £98,750.

The company, whose houses typically sell for an average of £124,400, plans to build 32 homes on the site. If all of them go for that amount, the company will rake in £4m.

The transaction was agreed by the Gleeson board, with Harrison recusing himself from the discussions.

‘The land, if purchased, will form part of a new Gleeson Homes site being developed in the ordinary course of business,’ the company said. ‘The price paid by the group was supported by an independent valuation and approved by the board.’

The deal was made public as Gleeson reported a 19pc rise in half-year profits to £13.7m and raised its interim dividend from 6.5p to 9p a share.

The company built and sold 593 homes in the six months to the end of December, up 31.5pc on the 451 it sold in the same period the previous year.

Nearly two-thirds of the homes – 373 – were sold through Help To Buy, the Government’s flagship scheme that lends house hunters cash to get on the property ladder.

The equity loan scheme allows people to purchase new-builds worth up to £600,000 using deposits of just 5pc – or £30,000.

The Government loans up to another 20pc, or £120,000, interest-free for five years. In London, where prices are typically higher, buyers can get a 40pc loan worth up to £240,000.

Shares rose 4.9pc, or 34p, to 724p.