Cohesive Consistent Confident

Henry Boot PLC
Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2015
www.henryboot.co.uk
Stock Code: BHY
We see the current balanced
marketplace continuing through 2016.
We will continue to invest in our land
portfolio, having careful regard to
ensuring our investments are focussed
where house builders wish to build, whilst
carefully managing our overall investment
in the sector. Selectively, the business will
seek to secure agreements which benefit
our commercial development activity
companies, in particular, Stonebridge
Projects and Henry Boot Developments.
Cranbrook, the new 3,500 unit
community at Exeter; Kingsdown, our
urban extension at Bridgwater, and
New Lubbesthorpe, a 4,500 unit urban
extension west of Leicester, all had a very
good year. Cranbrook saw residential
occupancies exceed 1,150 (in the two
and a half years since residential sales
commenced), the opening of a railway
station (on the London Waterloo line) and
both a secondary school and a second
primary school were completed and
opened. Development at Kingsdown,
Bridgwater, continued with further
residential sales anticipated in 2016.
Henry Boot Developments are also close
to securing a commercial development
on the main A38 road frontage. New
Lubbesthorpe, a scheme of 4,500
dwellings (where we have an interest in
1,593) commenced development and our
investment in this major urban extension
will create returns over the longer term.
We successfully sold part of our
long-term investment at Biddenham,
Bedford, during the year and we forecast
further parts will also be sold in 2016 and
2017.
Significant new investments were made
during the year at Grazeley, south of the
M4 at Reading, and Coventry. Other
key strategic sites within our portfolio
progressed well during the year; Market
Harborough (450 plots) secured a
minded to grant planning consent; the
first phase of Kettering East (438 plots)
was conditionally exchanged to a national
house builder; and Phase 2 of Marston
Moretaine (365 plots) was granted
planning consent in December 2015, the
first phase having been sold successfully
in 2013 to Bovis Homes, and we expect
to market part of this scheme in 2016.
Outlook for 2016
and beyond
2016 has started well with two site sales
already concluded and a number of
others progressing well for completion
later in the year; 180 plots were sold in
Alton, Hampshire, and seven acres of
employment land were unconditionally
exchanged in Lutterworth.
We expect the house builders to remain
selective when purchasing land in 2016
but we have a strong land portfolio with a
supportive planning regime, a substantial
number of sites available to the market
and, at this stage, we anticipate that
2016 will be yet another year of
good progress.
Case Study
Barton seagrave,
Kettering,
Northamptonshire
Hallam has a solely owned site
of 50 acres at Barton Seagrave,
Kettering just off the A14 trunk
road equidistant between the
M1 and A1(M) motorways.
The land forms part of the East Kettering
Sustainable Urban Extension area.
Outline planning permission was achieved
for a total of up to 5,500 dwellings,
including 20% affordable housing, on
1 April 2010, varied on 8 January 2015.
Hallam has had an interest in the area
since 1997. The outline consent includes
up to 875 dwellings on Hallam’s land
interest. A reserved matters planning
approval for 325 dwellings was received
in January 2016 and a further planning
permission for an additional 22 dwellings
was received in February 2016. We are
anticipating a sale on this parcel of land
later in the year.
Our retained 27 acres of land will be the
subject of further land sales within the
next five years.
Pictured A 450 dwelling site in Frome,
Somerset sold to a national developer.
Shareholder Information Financial Statements
Governance
Strategic Report
Overview
15