Affordable housing providers ‘hesitant’ to sign contracts in first half of the year
Springfield said it has increased its reservation rates in the first half of the year and is confident of meeting market expectations for growth.
The Scottish housebuilder, in a trading update said “homebuyer confidence returned” in the first half of its financial year.
It said: “This momentum was sustained through the first half, resulting in an increased number of private housing reservations being secured in H1 2025 compared with H1 2024. In addition, selling prices have remained resilient across the group’s brands.”
The group said affordable housing providers had been hesitant to commence new projects with Springfield due to uncertainty around public funding following a £200m cut to the affordable housing budget in 2024/25. As a result there have been delays to some projects.
However, the Scottish government last week effectively restored the £200m to affordable housing for 2025/26.
The housebuilder said: “The group expects affordable housing providers to now proceed with new contracts. In addition, the Scottish government funding for affordable housing supply in 2025/26 is substantially higher than in the current year, which the group expects to drive further growth in this market.” Affordable housing income accounts for around a fifth of Springfield’s overall income.
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The company said it is confident of meeting market expectations as it seeks to bounce back from a drop in profit and turnover last year.
Analysts at Progressive Equity Research forecast Springfield to increase its revenue for the year to £271.6m. This is up from last year’s figure of £266.5m but down on the £332.1m reported for the previous year.
It is also forecasting an increase in adjusted pre-tax profit from £10.6m to £13m.
The firm is set to announce its interim figures in the middle of February next year.
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