Redrow chairman steps down amid 'subdued' London market

Morgan, who founded the company in 1974 with £5,000 borrowed from his father before leaving in 2000 and then wrestling back control after the financial crisis, will stand down at the end of March, to be replaced by current chief executive John Tutte.

The FTSE 250-listed company added that Matthew Pratt, who is currently chief executive of Redrow's southern businesses and a member of the board, is to be appointed chief operating officer.

For the first 18 weeks of the company's financial year the sales rate per outlet per week was 0.64, down from with 0.67 on-year, a drop which Morgan cited as “entirely due to the London market”.

Despite this, Redrow’s order book is up 11% on the same point last year at £1.2bn and net cash currently stands at £132m, up from net debt of £25m last year.

"We broadly welcome the extension, announced in the budget, of the highly successful Help to Buy scheme which has enabled to date the purchase of almost 170,000 properties, over 80% of which were first-time buyers. We would, however, urge the government to review the regional price caps that markedly disadvantage the North and Midlands," Morgan will say.

The value of net private reservations inched higher to £588m, up from £586m, with their average selling price rising 4.6% to £0.4m.

"Redrow has an industry leading, highly desirable product, an excellent forward sales position and a very healthy balance sheet. We are in great shape to deliver another year of progress for the business," said Morgan.

Redrow’s shares were down 0.44% at 562.50p at 0834 GMT.