You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Crest Nicholson calls in consultants over building safety costs after £15m of new defects found
House builder Crest Nicholson could reassess the amount money it has put aside for building safety issues after finding defects on four more sites that are expected to cost up to £15m.
The FTSE 250 firm said today that it has appointed external consultants to offer “greater assurance on the adequacy of current provisions” around the four developments and “other sites” completed before 2019.
In a trading update, the Surrey-based group said it had become aware of “certain” build defects “predominantly” on the four sites when the group closed its regeneration and London divisions.
In January, Crest Nicholson reported in its annual results that its total provision for building safety was £144.8m.
READ MORE
Around 90 buildings are being worked on, the firm said at the time.
Separately, the house builder also recorded an exceptional charge of £13m in its full year to settle a legal claim relating to a fire at a low-rise block of flats in Reading in 2021.
It comes at a challenging time for the firm amid wider ongoing difficulties for the housing market.
In its last full year, Crest Nicholson reported a 70% drop in pre-tax profit, on an adjusted basis, to £23.1m – as revenue fell 28% to £657.5m.
On the same day as its results announcement, it revealed that its chief executive Peter Truscott would be stepping down later this year.
Today it said that it expects to sell around 1,800 to 2,000 homes in its current financial year ending in October. This would represent a drop on last year’s total of 2,020. The year before, in its 2022 financial year, the group sold 2,734 homes.
Crest Nicholson also said today that the planning system “continues to be challenging”.
But it added: “Our strong land portfolio with several quality sites acquired last year places us in a favourable position to mitigate planning delays and support future outlet growth.”
Sign up for our fire safety newsletter
Already have an account? Click here to manage your newsletters
