Last updated 15 March 2021
Countryside Properties Plc
Countryside Properties was founded by Alan Cherry and after initially focusing on small developments in east London and Essex, grew into one of the UK’s biggest housebuilders. The group, which is one of the few major housebuilders to retain a contracting business, sells 4,000 homes a year and turns over £900 million a year.
Financials
In the year to September 2020, Countryside’s group revenue including share of joint ventures fell to £892.0 million (2019: £1,237.1 million) and the group posted an operating loss of £5.4 million (2019: £170.4 million profit). Before tax , the loss was lower at £1.9 million (2019: £203.6 million profit).
To view the financials for Countryside Properties Plc, visit Companies House and use Company ID 09878920.
Operations
Countryside was founded in 1958 and builds both new homes for private sales and social housing and also works in regeneration and operates a design and build contracting division
In 1972, Countryside floated on the Stock Market and remained a listed company until delisting in 2005. During 2013, the new parent group Copthorn Holdings was acquired by Oaktree Capital Management, which then bought out Millgate Developments.
This business was merged with Countryside, before the newly enlarged group returned to the stock market again and floated on the London Stock Exchange on February 17 2016.
Countryside has its head office in Brentwood and further offices at Broxbourne in Hertfordshire, Ealing in west London, Enderby near Leicester, Sevenoaks in Kent, Solihull, Warrington, Wolverhampton, while Millgate continues to operate out of Twyford in Berkshire.
Housebuilding
Countryside has been involved with more than 35 estate regeneration schemes and has a strong tradition in the sector. In March, 2014, Countryside and its development partner L&Q signed an agreement with Chelmsford and Essex County councils for a multi-million pound ‘community infrastructure investment’ as part of the £1 billion Beaulieu development, which will involve 3,600 new homes in the city. Other major developments include the 3,000 unit Beam Park scheme in east London (Project ID: 15190115).
In 2020, adjusted turnover including joint venture income fell to £359.4 million (2019: £585.7 million) and operating profits fell to £10.9 million (2019: £81.3 million) after completions fell by 36% to 840 homes (2019: 1,308 units).
Partnerships
Unlike many peers, Countryside has retained a contracting division, which works largely on social housing work, often in collaboration with the company’s private house building operations, or registered social landlords (RSLs), such as Hyde, Riverside and Notting Hill Genesis, or local authorities, particularly in the capital, such as the London Borough of Ealing.
This partnership business operates in the outer boroughs of London, the North West of England and the West Midlands and expanded into the East Midlands and Yorkshire through the acquisition of Westleigh. Most work is carried out on a design and build basis by a subsidiary, Regeneration South.
In 2020, adjusted turnover including joint venture income fell to £629.4 million (2019: £837.1 million) as completions fell 27% to 3,213 units (2019: 4,425 units). Adjusted operating profits reached fell 74% to £32.8 million (2019: £127.8 million).
Glenigan Data
Glenigan’s research shows that in the 2020 calendar year, the group was amongst the industry’s top 10 companies in terms of planning activity after submitting 29 detailed applications (2019: 34) to build a total of 5,846 units (2019: 7,500 units).
In 2020, Countryside also won £217.5 million-worth of construction contracts for external clients, such as local authorities or RSLs (2019: £50.4 million)
Conclusion: Break up on horizon
Partnerships remain the focus with completions forecast to each 8,000 units by 2023, when housing is expected to be selling 1,500 units. This optimistic forecast anticipates significant growth at a time when the stamp duty will have ended, the current iteration of Help to Buy will also have closed and the wider economy will be coming out of the recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
At the partnership division, the landbank has grown by 22% to 44,442 plots (2019: 34,482 plots), whereas the landbank for the housebuilding operation firmed to 25,042 plots (2019: 24,303 plots). Going forward, the group has a strong focus on housing rather than apartments and is still looking to build large developments according to Glenigan’s data.
After surges in the group’s planning pipeline in 2018 and 2019, Countryside the number of units in detailed applications fell back in 2020. The average planning application included 201 units (2019: 221 units), when 97% of proposed homes were some form of house with the balance comprised of apartments (2019: 90% housing/10% flats).
Unlike most of the other housebuilders in Glenigan’s ranking of the industry’s top 50 players, Countryside is a hybrid company with a profitable and successful contracting business focused solely on the residential sector.
The group’s order book for external clients has grown and the average contract award in 2019 was just £72.5 million according to Glenigan’s research (2019: £16.8 million) but the group is clearly developing its own work.
The acquisition of Westleigh has also expanded the group’s geographical reach, while private housebuilding appears to be levelling off in line with peers operating mostly in that sector. The group also de-risks the housebuilding arm by working in joint venture to develop some schemes with other investors or developers, such as Sigma Capital and Stechrioco.
The order book has strengthened by 23% to £1,432 million (2019: £1,166 million) but Countryside’s hybrid mix of contracting and housebuilding holds back the margin and institutional investors typically dislike contracting businesses.
As Glenigan has predicted, shareholders began pressing for a break-up of the group after the lacklustre 2020 results and this was accepted by the board in December 2020. The eventual sale of the housebuilding arm will end one of the few remaining contracting-to-housebuilding companies still left quoted.
Winning Work with Countryside Properties
Countryside Properties is a member of the Homes & Communities Agency’s Delivery Partner Panel in the South and the North. The group also uses BuildEurope Build – an online on-site scheduling, procurement and site management system designed for housebuilders.
All suppliers to Countryside must comply with the ISO9001, ISO14001 and BSCOHSAS 18001 systems. The Code for Sustainable Homes (the Code)/BREEAM is used as a framework for sustainable procurement and local suppliers are used where possible. Preference is given to products with full Chain of Custody, e.g. accredited by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) or any other certification scheme specified within Tier Level 1 of the Code for Sustainable Homes.
Details on the group’s procurement and supply chain operations can be found here.
Key Procurement Contacts at Countryside
Group procurement director – Mike Hill
Tel: 01277-260000
Email: mike.hill@cpplc.com
Managing buyer – Steve Brewer
Tel: 01925-248900
Email: Steve.Brewer@cpplc.com
Senior Estimator – Valerie Sylvester
Tel: 01925-248900
Email: Valerie.sylvester@cpplc.com