Persimmon has announced that they have enough land to build over 100,000 new homes in the near future with the news that the house builder increased its land holdings in 2014 to 17,000 acres.

 


The construction company increased the number of homes it built in 2014 to 13,509, up 17% on 2013 and plans to open 7% more sites in the first half of 2015 than it had open during the same period in 2014.

 


Adding a cautionary note, the company said they needed policy certainty following the next general election to be able to commit to ramping up their home construction output this should have a positive impact on the housing market, construction jobs and also building supplies.

 


OBAS CEO Norman Tenray often speaks about the need for courage, confidence and leadership both in business and from government and it’s clear this is what many firms in the construction industry are calling out for, with Persimmon saying: “a key ingredient in supporting the required level of confidence that the housebuilding industry needs to continue to increase its output”.

 


Pointing out policies that the company felt they’ve benefited from recently, the firm mentioned National Planning Policy Framework and the extension of Help to Buy as two policies that have had a beneficial impact to their results.

 


Nicholas Wrigley, Persimmon chairman, said: “We have had an encouraging start to 2015 and experienced a solid opening period to the spring season with current total forward sales of £1,490m, 5% ahead of the previous year.

 


“Despite some uncertainty arising from the General Election in May, the ongoing gradual improvement in the UK economy and increasing mortgage lender support provides a supportive backdrop for the new homes market.”

 


Although it’s great to hear that Persimmon has land banks for 100,000 homes; we need our home builders to be supported and encouraged to build more homes so that firms such as Persimmon and others can multiply their output rather than increase by relatively small percentages.