Vistry’s announcement this week raises further concerns for FIS related to procurement in the Housing Sector. In their latest update, Vistry (whose business model has pivoted to focus on the delivery of affordable homes (mostly commissioned by public sector and housing associations). Vistry stated:
“We expect half year and full year profit to be ahead of last year and remain confident in achieving a 40% ROCE and £800m operating profit in the medium term” full report here.
FIS has written to politicians on both side of the house raising the concern that improved profits are, in no small part, a result of the hard squeeze on the supply chain. Profit is being distributed to shareholders rather than invested in our industry and communities. At the same time share price has been increasing and CEO Greg Fitzgerald is getting close to his bonus (which is expected to be roughly the cost of building 1,000 homes!).
The Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) have this year raised “fundamental concerns” about behaviours in the house building sector and have opened a separate investigation into suspected anti-competitive behaviours of 8 housebuilders (that FIS Members can feed into here).
This intervention follows earlier engagement with government (and opposition) in the third quarter of 2023 when there was a notable step up in aggressive procurement strategies across this part of the market. The fact remains that this programme of affordable and social housing, if commissioned correctly, has massive upside opportunities to help deliver a baseload for the housing industry that will support investment in the delivery ecosystem in terms of skills, jobs and modernisation. This is severely limited by the procurement tactics on show here and the concern remains that fiduciary responsibility to shareholders and driven by a bonus culture is outweighing any social opportunity from house building, This presents a huge missed opportunity for any government.
Do discuss or for further details of the correspondence (for interest or should you wish to raise with your own local MP/candidates) please email: iainmcilwee@thefis.org
If you have information that you would like to raise with the Competitions and Markets Authority, please click here.
FIS Homebuilding and High-Rise Residential Industry Day
Are you booked in to the FIS Homebuilding and High-Residential Day in Hertfordshire on 30th May
We’ve got a strong agenda covering the impact of legislative change, particularly on internal wall systems and speakers from NHBC, Home Builders Federation and Design and Technical Experts from within our supply chain. Still a limited number of places left, but will be allocated on a first come first served basis.