The pressures on the London property market were writ large yesterday when Crest Nicholson, assailed by rising costs and flat selling prices, announced the closure of its central London office.
Its decision prompted a fall in the FTSE 250 company’s share price and a wider stock market sell-off across the property sector.
Crest Nicholson shares fell 18¼p, or 4%, to 428p, dragging down those of its larger rivals Barratt Developments, which lost more than 3% to close on 561p, Berkeley, down 2.8% at £41.86, Persimmon, down 2.5% at £27.90, and Taylor Wimpey, which fell more than 2% to 185½p.
The Telegraph said that the housebuilder hopes to offset rising labour costs by manufacturing the light steel gauge inner walls of its houses offsite and delivering them “flatpack” to sites, rather than using traditional breeze blocks.
The company expects 10% of its output next year to use an element of offsite manufacturing.
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