Housebuilder Vistry warns of losses amid heavy discounting on unsold homes

Vistry has blamed expected losses on weak consumer demand amid the Iran conflict. Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA View image in fullscreen Vistry has blamed expected losses on weak consumer demand amid the Iran conflict. Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA Housebuilder Vistry warns of losses amid heavy discounting on unsold homes Group blames expected £30m loss in first half of year on weakening market and lower consumer confidence Vistry Group , one of Britain’s biggest housebuilders, has warned it will make a loss in the first half of the year, after it resorted to heavy discounting to attract buyers for unsold homes . Vistry shares fell by 8% after the firm also announced its finance director was leaving. Adam Daniels, the new chief executive, has been in post for three months and has pushed through price cuts to shift homes that are not selling despite Britain’s housing crisis. Vistry, formerly known as Bovis, had £600m of unsold private homes at the start of the year, but has roughly halved this to under £300m. It said £190m of the reduction would come through once the sales complete between now and December. UK housebuilder Vistry warns of ‘significantly’ lower profits amid Iran war uncertainty Read more The average discount it offered to private buyers was 7.1%, up from 1.4% in the first half of last year. Vistry now expects to make a loss before tax of £30m between January and June, worse than its estimate in May when it forecast a significantly reduced profit compared with last year. Vistry has slowed or delayed building on some sites. After a positive start to the year, market conditions worsened in the second quarter, reflecting increased uncertainty and lower customer confidence triggered by the Middle East war, Vistry said. Mortgage rates rose after higher inflation raised expectations of Bank of England interest rate hikes, although concerns have eased recently. However, Vistry is not expecting any short-term improvement in the market: “Although we would welcome some demand-side stimulus we are not anticipating a significant change in open market conditions in the second half, or in early 2027.” Vistry is seeking to slash its annual cost bill by £25m through voluntary redundancies – less than 5% of the workforce have applied so far – and more selective hiring. It directly employs 4,400 people, according to its last annual report. Vistry’s chief financial officer, Tim Lawlor, will leave in October after four years with the company. He is taking up a similar role in a large privately owned business in a different sector. In recent years, Vistry has shifted towards building social homes in partnership with housing associations, local authorities and build-to-rent investors, and is negotiating new framework deals with 10 of its main partners. There are concerns over when state funding for these projects will be made available under Labour’s £39bn social and affordable housing programme. The grants, for which Vistry’s partners have applied, ar