Henry Boot to ‘ramp up’ applications in 2025
Declaring “a bit more optimism” about the year ahead in a trading update, the Sheffield-headquartered group said it expects to progress 10,000 plots into planning as demand improves.
Henry Boot will publish its full year results for 2024 on 25 March. In a trading update issued today, chief executive Tim Roberts spoke of a “gradual improvement” in market conditions over the last year.
Roberts picked out the move to acquire full ownership of the Stonebridge Homes residential business as a highlight, along with the establishment of an industrial & logistics joint venture with Feldberg Capital to accelerate development in that sector.
He said: “Throughout 2024, we saw a gradual improvement in market conditions which translated into a steady increase in demand across our key sectors. This, coupled with our focus on high quality land, prime property development and premium homes means we expect year end profits to be in line with market expectations.”
Roberts continued: “Looking forward, we have started 2025 with a bit more optimism, albeit while the reduction in interest rates provided a welcome boost to the economy, the trend downwards is now anticipated to be at a slightly slower pace than previously expected.
“The improvements to the planning system we have already seen under the new government also give us confidence, and we therefore intend to ramp up our planning applications, with a further 10,000 plots expected to be made in 2025.”
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As anticipated, by completing sales of major strategic sites and development land the group reduced net debt throughout H2 24 to around £63m as at 31 December 2024 – from £103.9m on 30 June 2024 – resulting in gearing remaining well within the stated optimal range of 10–20%.
The Hallam Land division completed 2,661 residential plot sales in 2024, an uptick from 2023’s 1,944 plots. Although below the target of 3,000 plots for the year, Hallam still hit its full year financial target following a big employment land sale in Coventry. David Wilson and Vistry are among the buyers as demand picks up.
Hallam also grew its land bank from 100,972 plots to 104,787 plots in 2024 and secured consents on 2,982 plots, nearly treble the consents secured in 2023. A further 13,146 plots are currently in the planning system awaiting determination.
As a result of the changes to the NPPF, Hallam has identified 10,000 plots, which are expected to be submitted for planning over the next 12 months.
In 2024, the HBD development arm completed schemes with a total GDV of £331m, of which HBD’s share was £188m, up from £126m (HBD share £112m).
Work includes The Island office scheme in Manchester with GMPF, the Setl residential block in Birmingham, and a host of industrial work across the country.
Last month, HBD formed a UK-focused I&L JV with Feldberg Capital, known as Origin. There are no Yorkshire sites yet, but the new business has been seeded with three sites from the HBD pipeline with a combined GDV of around £100m. A £54m development loan with BGO has already been secured.
Henry Boot Construction (HBC) remained behind schedule for winning work and turnover was lower than targeted. However, the group said, HBC starts 2025 in a better position, with 55% of its order book secured and a further 16% at the preferred bidder stage or in legals.
Under HBC’s new management team – incoming managing director Lee Powell this month spoke with Place Yorkshire in an exclusive interview – the focus for 2025 will be on growing and diversifying the order book by developing a balanced portfolio of private sector projects, to complement existing public sector work.
