Countryside to re-open 80% of sites

Housebuilder Countryside is to re-open four out of five of its construction sites from Monday, the firm said today.

The decision, announced in an update to the City, makes it the latest to join peers such as Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey and Barratt in restarting work on site.

However, the announcement that it will open 80% of its sites makes it more ambitious than some other listed housebuilders, with the UK’s largest, Barratt, only pledging to open half of its sites in the first phase of its redeployment.

In addition, while others builders have stressed that they are returning to site largely to finish existing homes under construction, Countryside’s announcement contained no such caveat.

Countryside had announced the shutting down of its sites on March 25 in the wake of the government’s coronavirus lockdown. In the middle of last month it admitted to Housing Today that around two-thirds of its workers had been furloughed.

Yesterday the Construction Products Association said its analysis indicated that housebuilding output had dropped by around 85% since the imposition of lockdown on March 23, and that productivity will not fully return even when housebuilders return to site.

Countryside has now said it has developed a new set of operating procedures and that each site would be staffed with a dedicated compliance officer to ensure social distancing rules were not flouted.

It said: “We have commenced work to implement these changes and intend to reopen around 80% of our sites to construction from 11 May 2020.”

The housebuilder also said it had been declared eligible for financial assistance from the government under the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility (“CCFF”) and has put in place a bid for £300m, which will not be drawn down unless the cash is needed.

Iain McPherson, group chief executive, said the money gave the business the confidence to plan pro-actively for the future. He said: “Our mixed-tenure business model, strong order book and the outstanding commitment and hard work of our staff throughout this challenging period, position us well for a return to construction activity and we are focused on ensuring we do this in a safe and orderly way.”

The update came as Morgan Sindall, owner of affordable housebuilder Lovell, said that “many” of its construction sites were now re-opening as its supply chain rebuilt capacity. However, it added that with the continued closure of sales offices, it expected that “the lower level of sales activity will inevitably impact returns from the division’s mixed-tenure developments.”