Taylor Wimpey to restart construction in May

Taylor Wimpey said it would start a phased return to construction in May as the housebuilder reported rising orders for new homes.

The FTSE 100 company halted building of homes and closed show homes and offices in March after the government's clampdown on non-essential business to contain the Covid-19 outbreak.

On Thursday Taylor Wimpey said building sites would start to reopen from 4 May in a "slow but steady" return to activity. Site managers will spend a week getting sites ready before subcontractors begin returning to work on 11 May in England and Wales.

Taylor Wimpey said it had overhauled its practices in line with government guidance to keep workers safe and would provide specially made protective equipment for two-man jobs. Meaningful building will not start until mid-May and work will not resume in Scotland until the Scottish government gives its approval.

Sales centres, show homes and offices will not reopen at the same time as building sites and sales centres are likely to stay shut until restrictions are lifted for non-essential retail, Taylor Wimpey said.

In the 16 weeks to 19 April completed sales fell to 2,271 from 2,644 because of site closures but net sales have continued during the shutdown, Taylor Wimpey said. Only 0.8% of orders were cancelled after the Covid-19 lockdown meaning the order book increased by 200 units at prices comparable to those in the first quarter.

Pete Redfern, Taylor Wimpey's chief executive, said:

"We took an early decision at the end of March to close our sites while we assessed in detail how to build homes without compromising on health and safety or quality. We are now confident that we have clear plans and processes in place so we can safely start back on site in a phased way beginning on 4 May.

"In the period while our sites have been closed, trading has inevitably been impacted. However, we are still seeing continued demand for our homes and our sales teams have been selling homes remotely, and digitally, week to week."

Taylor Wimpey scrapped almost £500m of dividends to conserve cash when it announced the site closures in March. The company said it had a cash balance of about £836m on 22 April and was looking at future opportunities rather than just conserving cash.