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Major house builder warns of further fire safety spend to £132m already set aside

Major house builder Bellway revealed in a trading update that it anticipates further fire safety costs in the second half of this financial year – beyond the £131.6m it has spent since 2017.

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Major house builder Bellway revealed in a trading update that it anticipates further fire safety costs in the second half of this financial year – beyond the £131.6m it has spent since 2017 #UKhousing

The organisation’s latest update did not provide further figures, but it said it is continuing to work with building owners and warranty providers to assess combustion risks in high-rise wall systems.

“As a result of these ongoing reviews, and notwithstanding that all buildings obtained the required regulatory approvals at the time of construction, the board anticipates a further net legacy building safety expense in the second half of the financial year and will provide a further update with the release of [October 2021] preliminary results,” Bellway said.

In its half-year results in March, the builder revealed a £20.3m net building safety expense in the six months to January 2021, adding to a £46.8m sum set aside in October 2020.

Analysis by Inside Housing in May revealed that six of the UK’s 10 biggest house builders had set aside almost half a billion pounds to address fire safety issues in their buildings in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster.

Bellway’s near-£132m spend was second only to the £165m worth of costs incurred by Taylor Wimpey; although Berkeley Group, Crest Nicholson, Countryside and McCarthy Stone did not provide figures.


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Today’s statement added that Bellway is still pursuing recoveries from third parties, such as suppliers and sub-contractors, that had fallen short of standards.

Elsewhere it said it has seen a strong recovery in housing revenue, which rose by 41% to more than £3.1bn in the year to 31 July 2021 – only 2.5% below what it had achieved in 2019.

Its completions has similarly bounced back to 10,138 homes this year, compared with 7,522 the year before and 10,892 in 2019.

Bellway’s order book has reached “record” levels with 7,082 homes, compared with 6,588 in 2020 and 4,878 in 2019. Its land investment also increased, with 19,819 plots contracted.

Jason Honeyman, chief executive of Bellway, said the update has left the firm in an “excellent” position.

“The group benefits from a substantial order book and a robust balance sheet,” he added.

“In addition, our record investment in land and the resultant strengthened land bank provides a strong platform for both volume growth and further margin recovery in the years ahead.”

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