INL.L Regulatory News (INL)

1 December 2016

Inland Homes PLC

('Inland Homes', 'Inland', the 'Company' or the 'Group')

AGM Statement

Inland Homes (AIM: INL), the specialist housebuilder and brownfield land developer, provides the following statement ahead of its Annual General Meeting to be held today, 1 December 2016 at 11.00am.

The Group's housebuilding programme is gaining significant momentum with a record 394 homes currently under construction across 12 sites. 54 Homes have been reserved since the start of the new financial year, which is an average of 2.5 units per week. Of particular note recently was the off-plan launch of 54 units at Meridian, Southampton where 12 units have been reserved in the first eight weeks. This scheme has consent for 351 homes to be constructed in four phases.

Adding to this, Inland Homes is pleased to announce today the receipt of planning consent for 239 units at our site, Lily's Walk in High Wycombe which is in our joint venture with CPC Group Limited. Lily's Walk is a prime 3.5 acre site in the centre of High Wycombe, located directly opposite the Eden Shopping Centre.

Since 1 July 2016, the Group has received planning consents or resolutions to grant planning consents on 373 plots and 19,000 square feet of commercial space. We have planning applications awaiting determination for 1,746 residential units, with applications for, approximately, a further 470 residential units to be submitted very shortly.

The land bank currently stands at 7,220 plots, of which 1,415 have a planning consent or a resolution to grant planning consent. There are pre-application discussions regarding a further 1,802 plots ongoing.

As reported in the annual accounts for the year ended 30 June 2016, the timing of the construction of our sites, together with planned land sales is such that a major part of our profitability in the current financial year will be realised in the second half. The previously reported setback that was caused by the financial failure of a contractor, which resulted in the slight delay of 23 legal completions, is now virtually behind us and the momentum is gathering with a growing number of sites being constructed by our in-house build team. 

Stephen Wicks, Chief Executive at Inland Homes, commented:

"Following on from the robust set of results we announced in October, which reflected a year of significant operational and strategic progress, we are pleased to report that the momentum is continuing to escalate behind our building programme, with a record number of homes for the business under construction, underpinning the Company's growth strategy.

"The investment we have made in developing our in-house construction capability to self-deliver our homes is already producing tangible benefits and it's an area of the business that we are continuing to focus on to further increase levels of certainty on delivery, whilst reducing costs. Moreover, we are working on a number of initiatives through which we hope to be able to offer even lower cost housing in the South East, where price remains a barrier to many people owning their own home. We look forward to providing some more detail on this is in the New Year."

ENDS

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