Group built fewer homes in lockdown
TURNOVER AND PRE-TAX PROFIT ALSO DROPPED DUE TO PANDEMIC
THE Davidsons Homes group says it built fewer homes last year after the pandemic caused a temporary closure of sites.
The Ibstock housebuilder said it put up 608 homes in 2020, compared with 703 the year before, after the first national lockdown caused the shortterm closure of its developments as well as its showhomes, sales offices and its main and regional office.
New accounts show the business also put a temporary suspension on land transactions after the coronavirus first hit, to preserve cash, and furloughed 209 staff.
Its sites, sales offices and showhomes reopened last May.
The housebuilder refinanced a £50 million revolving credit facility during the pandemic and secured a £30 million credit facility under the government’s CBILS scheme.
The annual report for Davidsons Developments Ltd said turnover last year was £166.4 million, compared with £201 million in 2019. Pre-tax profits were £16.8 million, down from £28.3 million.
Davidsons was set up in 2008 by David Wilson, boss of David Wilson
Homes and Wilson Bowden Developments until he sold his business to Barratt Developments.
He was the winner of a lifetime achievement award at the 2019 Leicestershire Business Executive of the Year Awards.
The accounts showed Davidsons welcomed measures to stimulate the housing market last summer, including the stamp duty holiday on the first £500,000 of all property sales in England, which was extended to the end of last month and will taper off by the end of September.
The new mortgage scheme for buyers with smaller deposits, which will run until the end of December 2022, was also helping the sector, it said.
Writing in the trading statement, director James Wilson said: “The aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic will undoubtedly mean higher levels of unemployment in certain sectors and greater economic uncertainty.
“There does, however, remain pentup demand for housing, currently underpinned by low interest rates and good mortgage availability, which will be supported by the government for the medium term.”
The figures show Davidsons built 127 social houses during the year, up from 102 in 2019.