Housebuilder reports “exceptional” period
A housebuilder saw its pre-tax profits rise by £1m in an “exceptional” period for the firm, which it also attributes to being at the forefront of change during Hull’s UK City of Culture year.
Publishing its latest annual results to December 31 2017, Hull-based Beal Developments this week posted pre-tax profits of £6m, up from £4.9m in the previous year. Turnover rose to £41m from £38m.
The firm said its average selling price – £224,838 – has risen due to a higher level of larger properties completing during the year. This is despite the number of completions falling to 182 from 237 the previous year. It had 1,830 plots under contract with planning permission, up from 1,211 in 2016.
The housebuilder said: “Beal Homes have continued to be at the forefront of change and development within the city. The Beal brand has continued to excel across the region with strong trading results underlining the company’s excellent reputation across East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.”
Beal said it had focused on placing the customer at the heart of the design process and employing stringent quality control. “The company has once again experienced strong market demand as the shortage of high quality, new homes continues across the country,” added Beal.
During 2017, the firm was involved in the Wykeland Beal residential joint venture to regenerate the fruit market, which received £7m-worth of reservations on the launch weekend. It will be occupied later this year and the development will add to the £80m redevelopment of the fruit market area.
Foundations are in place and the first bricks have been laid at the Fruit Market residential development, which forms a major part of the exciting urban village taking shape on the city’s waterfront.
With construction continuing across the site, the £17m residential development is expected to be completed by summer 2020.
Richard Beal, chairman and managing director of Beal Homes, said: “It’s really exciting to see the site a hive of activity and the first properties starting to rise out of the ground. It’s now full steam ahead to deliver the first development of its kind within the city.
“The Fruit Market residential development will form an essential part of Hull’s first urban village. People are really excited by the opportunity to own a high-quality new home within an area with so much character and now buzzing with investment and creativity.
“Buyers will be able to enjoy being part of a unique community in the historic heart of Hull, with the city’s beautiful waterfront and everything they need right on their doorstep. Our vision for the Fruit Market is for it to be a vibrant place where people live, work and play and all the elements are now coming together to create something very special indeed.”
The development will feature 101 two and three bedroom homes. As well as foundations and brickwork for the first homes, early works on the site include erection of the steel frame of a landmark building on the corner of Queen Street and Blanket Row which will feature a ground floor commercial unit and three floors of residential accommodation above.
Also taking shape are four three-storey buildings on Humber Street which will have retail units on the ground floor and apartments above.
Beal Homes Construction Director John Goodfellow said: “We’ve faced some difficult ground conditions and the challenge of demolition and site preparation in an area very close to historic buildings in Humber Street. All that important work has taken place over the past few months, paving the way for building to now start in earnest.”
