Housebuilder to invest in the North

Leading Northern housebuilder Avant Homes has secured a £200m bank facility to significantly increase new land acquisitions in Yorkshire, the North East, the Midlands and Scotland.
Avant said it is seeing growing demand for its innovative homes, which have been the companys hallmarkAvant said it is seeing growing demand for its innovative homes, which have been the companys hallmark
Avant said it is seeing growing demand for its innovative homes, which have been the companys hallmark

The group said that amid renewed calls for the Government to re-energise the Northern Powerhouse project, alongside regional economic benefits from the development of HS2, its investment plan demonstrates the firm’s confidence in the UK’s northern regional economies.

The Northern Powerhouse international conference earlier this year identified a clear need to improve existing housing stock and build new homes in order to deliver the long term, balanced UK economic growth the Government is hoping to achieve.

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​​Avant Homes chief executive, Colin Lewis, said: “The Government must do more to support the cities and regions outside of the South East of England to ensure UK plc is as robust and powerful as it can be.

“Balancing UK economic growth will only become a reality if cities and regions in the North of England and across Scotland can create well-connected communities where people want to live.

“Our new £200m facility means we can enhance the role we already play in achieving this goal by accelerating our building of more much needed family homes.”

He said the extra financial firepower will help the company to build more homes in new locations.

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“This will enable us to leap ahead on our timeline to becoming a £500m turnover, 2,000 unit housebuilder, whilst also supporting opportunities to open further operating regions in the future,” he added.

The group, which formerly traded as Ben Bailey Homes in Yorkshire and the Midlands, has already identified sites to acquire in Sheffield, Glasgow, Newcastle and Nottingham as it builds on increasing demand.

Avant said it is seeing growing demand for its innovative homes, which have been the company’s hallmark since the launch of a new strategy.

This followed investment from Alchemy Special Opportunities, Avenue Capital and Angelo Gordon in 2014.

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The enhanced revolving credit facility is with HSBC, RBS, Santander and Bank of Ireland.

In Scotland, the company’s investment in land using the new facility will help redress a shortfall in housing stock where the number of homes being built remains just over 36 per cent below pre-recession levels.

This latest announcement follows what the group described as an excellent trading performance over the past year.

Avant said revenue rose 44 per cent to £369m in the year to April 30, driven by strong growth in completions and the continuing upward shift in private average selling price.

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The group completed 1,636 homes, up 35 per cent on the previous year.

Average selling prices rose from £242,000 to £252,000 and the group has added 1,100 plots to the owned and contracted land pipeline which now stands at 6,700 plots.

It reported a strong forward order book with 75 per cent of first half volumes already secured, providing a good foundation for further growth in 2018.

Mr Lewis said that the group’s record results have been driven by the strong appeal of its aspirational family homes, designed to give customers what they want, and the resilience of the markets in which it operates.