Vistry expects affordable housing demand to ramp up later this year as discounting hits profit

The update also said activity with affordable housing partners so far this year has been “relatively subdued as the industry transitions” between the previous and current grant programme.

But the new Social and Affordable Homes Programme, which closed for strategic partnership bidding last month, “is expected to drive a step up in demand” from partners towards the end of 2026 and into 2027.

This will “contribute to greater second-half weighting of partner revenues”, the update said. 

Vistry also said that due to this increased demand from social landlords, it expects its profit in the second half of 2026 to be in line with the same period last year.

The house builder added that the conflict in the Middle East has started to create “some upward pressure on material and, to a lesser extent, labour prices”, which it expects to continue for the rest of the year.

“We are mitigating these [impacts] where possible, through proactive engagement with our subcontractors and suppliers, and we will continue to monitor overall build cost inflation for 2026 and into 2027 as macro-economic conditions evolve,” Vistry said.

Last month, Vistry appointed a new chief executive officer (CEO) following the retirement of Greg Fitzgerald after nine years at the helm.

The update said: “The board and our new CEO, Adam Daniels, remain fully committed to the partnerships strategy and the key role our differentiated model can play in delivering the huge need for new housing across the country.”

Vistry’s partnerships model aims to deliver mixed-tenure homes in partnership with registered providers, local authorities and private rented sector landlords.