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Wimpey Throws Down Chips
In what many will see as a big gamble, Taylor Wimpey will start the process of remobilisation of construction from the week commencing 4 May on the...
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House Builder - Back To Work On Monday
Thursday 23 April saw house builder Vistry take the decision to recommence work on around 90% of the Group's 'Partnership' sites and a significant number of the firm's own housing sites from 27 April.
A statement reads: "We have been in close dialogue with our supply chain partners who are supportive of our plans. We will operate in accordance with strict guidance and protocol from the Government, Public Heath England and the HSE.
“The Group's priority remains the safety, health and wellbeing of our employees, customers and suppliers and we are doing our utmost to support them during these unprecedented times.”
– Vistry Group
Statement
House sales
Office-based employees will continue to work from home where possible.
Vistry's sales teams remain in close communication with existing and prospective customers remotely, with the business open to taking virtual tours, new reservations, progressing exchanges and handing over completed homes.
Since the lock down commenced, the company has taken 212 gross private reservations, resulting in 132 reservations net of cancellations; and has exchanged on 170 homes and legally completed a total of 193 private sales. "Our levels of website traffic and prospects remain strong, an indication of the continued underlying demand", a spokesperson told The Installer.
Partnerships
Vistry had maintained a low level of activity on a number of Partnership sites since the start of lockdown. The high level of contracted forward sales within this business provides certainty of the cash realisation from these sites - prompting the decision to go active on 90% of sites.
The statement reads: 'The level of new activity remains strong and Partnerships continues to progress a significant number of opportunities, including the recently announced portfolio of transactions with Homes England'.
Housing
'Our initial focus will be on homes which are watertight and where we have clear visibility of completion and hence cash realisation. Activity levels will commence in a measured way, increasing steadily, and maintaining a tight control on work in progress'.
Further actions
Vistry has furloughed the majority of its staff during the period of site closure but expect this level of furloughed staff to reduce as activity on sites increases. Furloughed employees are receiving 100% of their regular pay until at least the end of May 2020. These staff have been encouraged to support the broader community and many are involved in a wide range of initiatives including sourcing and transporting PPE and other equipment to the front line, joining the NHS National Army and working as on-call firefighters.
Greg Fitzgerald, Chief Executive says: "I would like to thank all our colleagues and subcontractors for their remarkable resilience and commitment during these times and am pleased to announce that we will be recommencing activity levels across the majority of our developments on Monday 27th. Health & safety remains our top priority and a huge amount or work has gone into making sure our people can return to work with confidence in safe and well-planned operating procedures. This first step represents a positive move for the Group, as well as the wider economy - and the critically important delivery of new homes."
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Article written by Cathryn Ellis
24th April 2020