Croudace moves back into the black but says government lacks housing policy cohesion

Croudace Homes has increased its turnover by 50% and moved back into profit.

The Surrey-based housebuilder, in its accounts for the year to 31 December, reported turnover of £216m, up from £144m the previous year. Its revenue was boosted by a sharp increase in homes completed, from 329 to 543 units.

The group also posted a pre-tax profit of £595,000, compared to a £22.9m loss the previous year, when it was hit by administration costs and a land value writedown.

But Croudace said turnover was lower than it had hoped for, which it said was “purely down to slower sales rates experienced across the country”. Its gross profit margin also fell from 18.4% to 16.6% which it said was due to high inflation and “greatly reduced value of sales” on affordable homes.

Caspar Brotherton, chair of Croudace, warned that economic and political headwinds in the housing market “are here to stay for some time”.

He added: “The optimism seen last year with the change of government and the drive for ‘Build, Baby, Build!’ has now diminished.

“The industry hasn’t seen the cohesion required from the government across the house building sector that is required for us to deliver the 1.5 million new homes that they have pledged.”

Brotherton criticised the government for not announcing a new Help to Buy scheme to support the housing market in the Autumn Budget. He said: “This is disappointing considering the previous scheme generated a £1.4bn return on investment for the Treasury.”

In the accounts, Croudace said it had secured a record number of planning approvals last year, with 1,072 homes approved across six developments.

Croudace placed 122nd in Building’s Top 150 Contractors & Housebuilders list last year, The list ranks firms by annual turnover.