Housing Developer Vistry Signs Deals For 1,900 New Homes
Housebuilder Vistry has signed partnership agreements to develop 1,900 new units at two sites in East Anglia and West Sussex.
The first deal is for a mixed-tenure development at the Ford Airfield, Arundel, that will be delivered in a 50-50 joint venture. Half of the units will be presold for affordable housing.
Working in partnership with registered housing provider Abri, the development will also provide community infrastructure, including a local centre, commercial and retail space, a primary school and a 60-bed care home, Vistry said in a statement.
Vistry will also build 400 homes at a new site at Hatchfield Farm, Newmarket. Half of the homes have already been pre-sold for affordable housing to Clarion Housing Association, while the remainder will be sold on the open market through Vistry’s Bovis Homes and Linden Homes brands.
“These two sites support our strategy of delivering a significant number of mixed-tenure homes with our affordable housing partners,” Vistry CEO Greg Fitzgerald said in a statement.
“Ford Airfield will contribute significantly to Abri’s commitment to build 10,000 homes by 2030, whilst we will reinvest any surplus to improve existing homes and services, invest in communities and continue to build more affordable housing,” Abri Group CEO Gary Orr added.
Vistry revealed that its transition to an affordable housing provider had yielded a strong performance as it published its 2023 results earlier this month.
In October, the London-listed company said that it would focus solely on building affordable homes via its partnerships business, which delivers homes alongside local authorities and social housing organisations.
Revenues for 2023 rose by 29% to £4B, while operating profits increased 8.2% to £487M as Vistry delivered 16,118 new homes, slightly down on the year prior. The group is aiming to deliver up to 17,500 new homes in 2024.
The company also announced a £100M share buyback, which followed a £55M buyback programme launched in September.
Also this month, Vistry said that former Telford Homes Managing Director John Fitzgerald will join as interim managing director for the south London region.
Fitzgerald, who was group managing director at Vistry for more than 20 years, will join on 8 April. He will head up the company’s Stratford-based operations, which typically operates through Vistry's Countryside Partnerships brand and is working on nine projects for 3,000 new homes.
