INL.L Regulatory News (INL)

28 November 2017

Inland Homes plc

AGM Statement

Inland Homes plc (AIM: INL), the specialist brownfield land developer and housebuilder, provides the following statement ahead of its Annual General Meeting to be held today, 28 November 2017, at 11.00 am.

The Group's land bank currently stands at 6,860 plots, of which 2,467 (36%) have a planning consent or a resolution to grant planning consent. There are 471 plots with planning applications submitted and pre-application discussions on a further 1,964 plots ongoing.

Since 1 July 2017 the Group has received planning consents or resolutions to grant planning consent on 442 plots and 15,000 square feet of commercial space. This included a resolution to grant planning consent on 357 units at our site, the former Brooklands College campus, in Ashford, Middlesex, which is in our Project Helix joint venture. This is a 10 acre town centre site with extremely good transport links that sits between Heathrow airport and the M3. 15,000 square feet of commercial space will also be delivered as part of this project.

The Group's housebuilding programme is continuing to grow rapidly, with 581 units currently under construction (including joint ventures) and a further 445 expected to be started by June 2018. Reservations are at a healthy level, with 139 net reservations across 11 sites since 1 July compared to 54 across 5 sites in 2016. Similarly forward sales stand at £40.7 million (2016: £22.3 million), an increase of 82.5%. This reflects the increase in our housebuilding output and confidence in both the market in which we operate and the price point.

In addition, we have 86 units being built across our three partnerships with Housing Associations, with a further 135 set to begin early in the second half. This is an area which the Group intends to expand, as it achieves a payment for the land up front which allows the recognition of land profits. Similarly, the associated build contract is self-funding and cash positive and these transactions will provide a balance to open market speculative housebuilding.

Stephen Wicks, CEO at Inland Homes, commented: "We are making considerable progress across the business since announcing our Full Year results, through the ongoing implementation of our growth strategy. We continue to leverage our specialist core development skills to secure planning consents across the portfolio, whilst the investment we have made in our housebuilding operations is allowing us to significantly increase our construction output, whilst improving certainty of delivery and benefitting from further cost efficiencies.

"The market remains supportive for Inland Homes, with ongoing strong demand for affordably priced homes in the South East and a number of encouraging measures announced by the Government that should benefit us. We will continue to explore new initiatives that allow us to deliver more units whilst generating good shareholder returns, and are well-placed to do this through the strong relationships we have in place with housing associations, local authorities and other stakeholders."

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