Confidence is slowly returning to the housing market, says CEO of MJ Gleeson

MJ Gleeson, which employs around 400 out of its 850 staff in Yorkshire, has published its results for the half-year ended December 31 2022. At Gleeson Homes, revenue rose by 11.0 per cent to £166.7m, with increased selling prices outweighing a fall in the number of homes sold. Overall, group revenue decreased by 1.4 per cent to £171.0m.

Mr Prothero said was delighted to have taken up the role as CEO and he was “hugely impressed with our talented and committed colleagues, our excellent product, exciting land pipeline and, above all, our team’s enthusiasm”.

"We have an exciting opportunity to take Gleeson to the next level by delivering sustainable growth over the medium-term, across both our homes and land divisions.

“At the same time as managing through the lower levels of current market demand, I want to ensure that the group is in the best possible shape to take advantage of the recovery which we are beginning to see early signs of.

"Building on the strong platform I have inherited, my focus is on optimising our organisational structure and making us more operationally efficient and fit for further growth. This will also result in significant annualised savings of around £4m.

“In terms of guidance: confidence, underpinned by improved mortgage rates, is slowly returning to the market, evidenced by improving net reservations. With full-year volumes dependent on the pace of

recovery, we now expect to deliver between 1,650 and 1,850 homes.”

In a statement, MJ Gleeson said the recently announced consultation on planning reforms by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing

and Communities (DLUHC) has led to further uncertainty within the planning system.

The statement added: “Whilst the potential changes continue to be debated, the system remains chronically slow and frequently requires an ‘appeal led’ approach to decision making.”

The statement added: “The average selling price for homes sold in the period increased 15.6 per cent to £186,400, reflecting underlying selling price increases of 11.2 per cent, a higher proportion of larger four-bedroom homes sold, and good levels of customer extras, which are typically higher margin.

"The division entered the year with a significantly lower forward order book than in prior years, reflecting our intentional management of sales releases to optimise both prices and the customer journey. “Therefore, the slowdown in demand resulting from the mini-budget in September 2022 had a more pronounced impact on total homes sold. As a result, 4.1 per cent fewer homes were sold in the period, at 894 homes.”​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​