More listed housebuilders furlough workers

Three more listed housebuilders have confirmed they are furloughing staff as the UK’s largest, Barratt, tells Housing Today the majority of its employees have now been stood down.

Bellway, McCarthy & Stone and Vistry have all told Housing Today that they have furloughed a proportion of their staff, joining with the likes of Barratt, Taylor Wimpey, Redrow and Crest Nicholson who last week said they had done the same.

The decisions come in the wake of the virtual shut down of work by listed housebuilders following the “lockdown” measures brought in by prime minister on March 23, with all having shut the most or all of their development sites.

However, while Crest Nicholson, Redrow and Gleeson have publicly stated that between 70-80% of staff have been stood down under the government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, none of Bellway, McCarthy & Stone or Vistry gave any indication of how many staff had been furloughed.

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme sees the government pay up to 80% of the wages of “furloughed” workers to allow business to avoid making mass lay-offs. Companies can top up salaries above the 80% level if they want to help their staff avoid financial difficulties.

A spokeswoman for Bellway, which employees nearly 3,000 staff, said: “To ensure safe working practices on our construction sites and the safety and wellbeing of our colleagues and customers, we have taken a supportive approach and therefore decided to take the decision to furlough some staff on full basic pay. We have not made any redundancies as a result of the crisis.”

A spokeswoman for Vistry, which employees 1,360 people, said the business was adopting “an agile and flexible approach as we strive to keep delivering for our customers and safeguard the jobs of our people, including those in our supply chain.” She said: “The level of furloughing varies in different parts of the business and we are currently topping up staff salaries in full. Those who have been furloughed have been encouraged to join, or step up their participation in, the national volunteering effort.”

A spokeswoman for McCarthy & Stone said the business’s priority was the health and wellbeing of tis employees and customers. She said: “While we have taken the decision to temporarily close all of our construction sites and sales offices because of the current situation, none of our employees have been made redundant. Our Board of Directors and senior leadership team have taken a voluntary 20% pay cut so we can focus resources where they are most needed.

“Some staff in our sales and build teams have been furloughed and under the Government Job Retention scheme we have secured support for these employees.”

The statements came as a spokesman for the UK’s largest housebuilder, Barratt, which last week admitted it had furloughed some staff, said that the majority of its staff had been stood down. Asked if Barratt, which employees nearly 4,300 people, had joined with its peers in furloughing between 70-80% of staff, a spokesman said the proportion was “similar”.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Countryside Properties, which last week also said it was furloughing staff without saying how many, confirmed that “around two-thirds” of workers were now stood down.