Taylor Wimpey gears up for work to return to Scottish housebuilding sites

Housebuilding giant Taylor Wimpey is starting preparations to return to construction work at its Scottish sites.

Many housebuilders have already restarted work south of the Border. Picture: Rui Vieira/PA Wire

In a business update to investors, the group said the sites would get up and running in line with Scottish Government guidance. Non-essential construction work has been halted north of the Border during lockdown, but phase one relaxation measures will allow for its gradual resumption.

Taylor Wimpey said that orders have strengthened in recent weeks after restarting construction work on the majority of its sites in England and Wales.

The company said it has also seen a “very high level of demand” for appointments after reopening the majority of its show homes and sale centres in England.

The High Wycombe-headquartered firm said its order book was “strong” and has seen a “healthy increase in reservations” in recent weeks. At the start of May, the group began reopening its construction sites south of the Border to resume work.

It came after the company ordered its sites, show homes and sales centres to be closed in March, as the coronavirus outbreak gathered pace.

Taylor Wimpey also reopened its sales centres and show homes on 22 May for pre-booked appointments only. It said that all its employees have now returned from furlough after being able to restart operations.

The firm said that it had also become more active in purchasing land recently after the lockdown stifled activity in March and April. It is “currently assessing” a number of land opportunities across the UK and has secured contracts on a “small number of early purchases”.

In its statement to investors, Taylor Wimpey said: “Our first priority remains the health and safety of our customers, employees, subcontractors and wider communities, and we are extremely proud of the way our teams have adapted to the new ways of working.

“Our new site protocols have been implemented successfully and the new Taylor Wimpey Covid-19 code of conduct continues to receive strong support from our employees and subcontractors.

“These measures include detailed signage, phased sign-in times, strict protocols for social distancing, modification of welfare facilities and additional customised Taylor Wimpey PPE.”

It added: “Customer service is a key priority and we continue to keep our customers regularly updated on our actions to support them. We have written to all customers to extend our two-year warranty free of charge for all customers in warranty, at any point in the lockdown, by two months in England and Wales, and three months in Scotland, reflecting the length of the effective lockdown of construction.”

William Ryder, equity analyst at financial services firm Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “There’s a strange divide opening up in the news we’re getting at the moment. On the one hand, job losses are beginning to mount and many businesses are in such trouble that they may not survive. But at the same time, traditionally cyclical sectors like housebuilding seem to be forging ahead as though they’ve just taken a short holiday.

“We’d expected people to put off buying homes this summer, especially when the financial future remains in doubt for so many. We might still be right about this, and we’re not going to give the all clear for housebuilders just yet; sales rates are still low and we’re yet to see how many jobs permanently return once the furlough scheme winds down.

“But we’d be remiss not to acknowledge that the news coming from the housebuilders is much better than we expected. The furlough scheme has helped here, and appears to be working as intended as all employees have now returned to work, but it’s the comments we’re getting around demand that are really encouraging. Housebuilders aren’t out of the woods yet, but we’re more optimistic than we were a few months ago.”

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