MJ Gleeson (LON: GLE), the affordable housebuilder and land promoter, said today it expects a weaker first half as the Government’s Your First Home scheme is likely to delay buyers. The warning came in a trading update ahead of its annual general meeting later today. The shares stood at 270p at 08:54, a delayed quote, down 2.35% from the previous close of 276.5p.
Gleeson builds homes in the Midlands and North of England through Gleeson Homes, and promotes land through Gleeson Land, winning planning permission and then selling the sites on. It described the state of sales this way:
As anticipated, sales rates have improved from the weak summer but still remain subdued.
Gleeson
The company welcomed Your First Home as having significant potential to help first-time buyers afford a new home. But announcing it some five months before launch is likely to postpone demand and increase cancellations, the Board said, so it anticipates a weaker first half.
The net reservation rate is the number of new home reservations per site per week, after cancellations. Over the eight weeks to 1 November, excluding bulk reservations, which are block purchases of several homes by one buyer, it edged above last year’s comparable period. Including them, it was lower.
| Metric | Current (2026) | Prior year |
|---|---|---|
| Excluding bulk reservations | 0.53 | 0.52 |
| Including bulk reservations | 0.88 | 0.93 |
Gleeson Land is making good progress on final technical approval for a delayed large land sale, with the vast majority of issues resolved. Option exercise, where the buyer formally takes up its right to buy, and completion are expected over the next few months. Planning committees are still giving adverse decisions after changes in political control at this year’s local elections, so more sites are going to appeal.
The Board expects profits to be significantly weighted to the second half, with delivery of FY2027 market consensus, the average of analysts’ profit forecasts, reliant on further improvement in buyer confidence. Gleeson’s next trading update is on the 15th of January, with results on the 23rd of February.