Major housebuilder forced to close half of its offices

Major housebuilder Vistry is being forced to close almost half of its offices as it grapples with rising debts, it has been reported.

The company had earlier sliced more than £100,000 off some of its house prices to deal with struggling sales figures.

Now, the reality of a struggling market is biting further with 12 of the company’s 25 offices set to shut down, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Adam Daniels, Chief Executive of Vistry (pictured), said in a trading update it was “difficult but necessary” as the company looked to save £50million next year.

Vistry expects its debts to balloon to £800million in the second half of 2027, from under £300million during the same period last year.

It is unclear how many of the company’s 4,500 staff are at risk of losing their jobs, which will come into effect in January.

Vistry reported a record loss of £661million for the first half of the year, and said it planned to build fewer homes as rising mortgage rates hit demand. Its shares have fallen 57% since the start of the year.

In June at the time of the price cuts, Vistry said: “While current market conditions are challenging for all companies in our sector, the group has a robust forward order book of £4.5billion, and we continue to build at scale and pace, delivering the homes this country so desperately needs.”

Last year Vistry was one of seven housebuilders that agreed to pay £100million between them towards affordable housing, under commitments offered to end a Competition and Markets Authority investigation into the exchange of information about sales, pricing and incentives.

The CMA made no finding that the companies had broken competition law, and they admitted no liability or wrongdoing.

A spokesperson for Vistry says: “The company won’t be sharing numbers for upcoming departures at this stage as it is still working through its plans.”