House builder appoints new finance boss and reports strong demand for build-to-rent

“He is a very experienced CFO with significant property-related experience, which is highly relevant as Watkin Jones continues its recovery and broadens its focus on opportunities within the residential for rent sector.

“I would also like to thank Sarah, on behalf of the board, for her contribution to Watkin Jones and, in particular, in supporting the business through the challenging market conditions that the group has experienced over the last 18 months.”

Mr Jones said: “I am very much looking forward to working with Alex and the team at Watkin Jones. The business has a very clear strategy within one of the most attractive parts of the real estate and residential markets, and I look forward to helping deliver on the group’s forward growth plans.”

His appointment was announced on the same day that the firm revealed a trading update for the half year ending 31 March 2024.

Watkin Jones told the stock market: “The underlying operational residential for rent market continues to perform well, with both strong tenant demand and rental growth in our core PBSA [purpose-built student accommodation] and BTR sectors.

“Alongside this, we are seeing the wider real estate investment market and appetite for forward funds continuing to recover gradually, off a low base.

“We currently have one scheme under offer and are actively marketing further schemes. As previously guided, we continue to expect performance to be significantly H2 weighted, reflecting the timing of forward sales targeted to be completed this year.”

In January, the Watkin Jones reported a pre-tax loss of £2.9m in 2022-23 after setting aside £35m for building safety remediation work.

On this work, it said: “We continue to focus on the delivery of our building safety rectification obligations and have completed works on three buildings in the period with cash spend in line with expectations.

“As previously reported, there remains significant uncertainty in this area across the sector and, as for many other participants in our industry, assets in scope and the scope and cost of works continue to evolve.

“Based on developments in the period to date, our provision remains unchanged and we will continue to monitor this as discussions with building owners and building investigations continue.”

Watkin Jones reported gross cash of around £67m, down from £83m in the same period last year.

Overall, the builder said its latest performance was “as expected” and was “driven substantially by the group’s contractually secure forward sold developments, where project margins at circa 10% have been in line with guidance” reported as part of last year’s results.

There has been increased interest in BTR across the sector of late. However, cross-party research by a communications consultancy recently revealed that just 11% of MPs would prioritise the development of new these homes in their constituencies.