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Taylor Wimpey fire safety spend hits £245m after signing government pledge
One of the country’s largest house builders is set to spend £245m on fire safety work after signing up to the government’s building safety pledge.
In a trading update, Taylor Wimpey confirmed that it will spend an additional £80m on fire safety work as a result of agreeing to the government’s demands, bringing its total spend on remediation work to £245m.
Taylor Wimpey is one of more than 35 large developers that have signed up to the government’s pledge, which commits them to fixing “life critical” defects on blocks they built over the past 30 years and reimbursing any money they have received via the Building Safety Fund.
The commitment from Taylor Wimpey comes one year after it agreed to bring all blocks higher than 11 metres that it built in the past 20 years up to a standard that would be accepted by mortgage lenders.
The money the house builder will spend on its own buildings is on top of a new 4% tax being levied on private developers with profits exceeding £25m.
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Research by Sirius Property Finance estimated that this would cost Taylor Wimpey £33m annually, based on the house builder’s 2019 profit.
The government also recently confirmed that a new levy will be placed on house builders seeking planning permission for new developments in England.
Taylor Wimpey’s update comes on the day its chief executive, Pete Redfern, steps down after 15 years in charge of the company.
He is being replaced by Jennie Daly, Taylor Wimpey’s group operations director.
The update, which covers the period from 1 January 2022 until today, shows the house builder’s total order book value stood at approximately £2.9bn (representing 10,957 homes), compared to £2.8bn (10,995 homes) for the same period last year.
According to the house builder, the recent interest rate rise from 0.5% to 0.75% has not affected customer appetite. It said the mortgage market remains competitive, with good availability of low-cost fixed-rate products.
It said trading is in line with expectations, but the company remains “mindful” of uncertainty caused by the war in Ukraine, as well as pressures on the cost of living.
Ms Daly said: “Trading has continued to be strong, supported by a healthy market backdrop. We have also continued to make good progress against our strategic priorities, including driving growth in operating profit margin and outlet openings. Demand for our homes remains strong, with the business well positioned to deliver further progress in 2022 and beyond.”
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