Wates stockpiles building materials as Brexit looms

Wates is stockpiling materials on land near to where it is building more than 600 homes for Quintain in north London, in case the UK crashes out of the EU and vital supplies cannot get through to building sites.

Faced with the possibility that building materials could get held up as a result of the UK going through a no-deal exit from the EU, the contractor’s chief executive, David Allen, told Housing Today’s sister publication Building his firm had started stockpiling on a site that Quintain had made available at its huge Wembley Park scheme (pictured).

“We were talking about bringing in materials early and getting access to warehousing and space, and [Quintain] freed up a bit of land that they own near the site and have allowed us to store the relevant kit there, while we wait to move it on site,” he said.

Wates is currently building private and affordable rental homes at the Wembley site, alongside homes available for sale.

Of these, 286 homes will be affordable, while 347 will be let by Quintain’s rental management business, Tipi.

A third of the 7,000 planned homes on the 85-acre Wembley site are due to be affordable.

Wates also maintains more than half a million homes in the social housing sector and is investing in residential activity, Allen said, “whether that is a scheme with Havering council, or whether that is in housebuilding in various aspects – land, developments, joint ventures or housebuilding jobs”.

Last year Wates won the race to sign a £1bn contract and joint venture deal with Havering council in east London to overhaul 12 of its housing estates.

The work will increase council rented accommodation by 70% while Wates will also be building 400 low-cost-homeownership properties.

Under the terms of the deal, the right to return is guaranteed to every existing resident on the estates being regenerated, while any housing that requires rebuilding will be done on a like-for-like basis to ensure no loss of existing affordable housing, Wates said.

This week Wates announced a pre-tax profit of £36m for 2018 on turnover of £1.6bn.