Inquiries boom as lockdown eases

‘We can’t build the houses fast enough’

HOUSING: Urban regeneration housebuilder MJ Gleeson said customer interest has shot up over the past six weeks as people living in rented accommodation decide they want a front and back garden after being cooped up during lockdown. It said reservations stand at 80 per cent of pre Covid-19 levels.

URBAN REGENERATION housebuilder MJ Gleeson said customer interest has shot up over the past six weeks as people living in rented accommodation decide they want a front and back garden after being cooped up during lockdown.

The Sheffield-based firm said its homes come with decent sized front and back gardens. A typical Gleeson front garden extends 15 to 20 feet from the house and the back garden is typically the width of the house, with a 60-foot depth.

Reservations stand at 80 per cent of pre Covid-19 levels and Gleeson’s CEO, James Thomson, said it would be higher, but “we can’t build the houses fast enough”.

“There has been quite a pentup demand from our existing customers, who wanted to talk to us about getting their existing homes completed. Also there have been new customers who have spent their time during lockdown re-evaluating what is important to them,” he said.

“We’ve seen very strong customer interest over the past four to six weeks.”

Mr Thomson said a lot of green space is planned into Gleeson’s housing schemes.

“All of our schemes are not very high density. There is a sense of space. All of our schemes come with a front and back garden. People are thinking about their own, private space,” he added.

He said customers can get a Gleeson home for £73 a week with a mortgage under the Government’s Help to Buy scheme.

“These people would typically spend £138 a week on rent,” he said.

“We are helping to get young people out of the rent trap. We offer low-cost, but high-quality homes.”

Mr Thomson added that twothirds of Gleeson’s customers are key workers “who are keeping us all safe, fed and healthy”.

“They are nurses, doctors, police officers, teachers, supermarket workers, lorry drivers and many of them are working overtime and not going on holiday,” he said.

As the UK moved out of lockdown, Gleeson created a key worker priority programme to reward these people.

“We are offering them incentives. It’s our way of saying thanks to all those key workers,” said Mr Thomson.

The incentives include carpet or vinyl flooring throughout the house, which is worth £2,000, or £1,000 for optional extras such as upgraded kitchens. Another key worker incentive is turf and fencing in the back garden.

Gleeson recently said that if the current market improvement continues, the group is confident it will see a rapid recovery this year.

The firm said house sales fell 30 per cent to 1,072 homes in the year to June 30, down from 1,529 the previous year.

However, it said it had entered the new financial year in a strong position with a forward order book of £145m on 1,033 plots, up from £88m on 677 plots in June 2019.

Gleeson said the current safe working protocols are having an impact on productivity and build rate. Build activity on sites is currently running at 60 per cent of pre Covid-19 levels and is expected to reach 80 per cent by September.

The firm said the majority of furloughed staff have returned to work, either to sites or working from home.