Bovis accused of paying buyers to move into unfinished houses

Hot on the heels of last week's profit warning, housebuilder Bovis Homes has now lost its chief executive and a measure of its credibility.

A trading update at the beginning of the year revealed the company had missed a target to build and sell more than 4,000 homes in 2016, with 180 completions being deferred until early this year.

"This will affect profits," says The Guardian. "Bovis now expects to make an annual pre-tax profit of £160m to £170m, compared with analysts' forecasts of about £183m."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Added to that, this morning came widespread press reports of customer complaints over the quality of its new builds, focusing in particular on customers who were allegedly offered "incentives" of up to £3,000 to move into homes before they were finished.

Buyers were reportedly encouraged to transfer funds and move into their homes before 23 December last year in an ultimately futile effort to try to hit targets for 2016 as a whole.

The Times says: "Rob Elmes, 32, refused to accept an offer of £2,000 to complete on a three-bedroom £320,000 home in Worcestershire and was offered £3,000 four days later.

"Elmes refused, arguing that his home was not yet finished, including Bovis fitting the wrong kitchen units and workmen still in the house."

The Guardian cites the case of Chad Clifton and his wife, who were "forced" to complete on their four-bedroom house in Brockworth, Gloucestershire, despite the fridge not having been fitted and a list of 115 defects.

"They were offered £350 and a free move," the paper adds.

A Bovis spokesman said: "A limited number of customers were offered an incentive to complete before the year end and all homes were habitable with the requisite CML industry certification."

In between the related embarrassments, chief executive David Ritchie caught analysts and investors off guard on Monday by announcing his resignation with immediate effect after eight years in the role.

He announced a major expansion plan in 2014 which the Times says many experts had deemed "too ambitious".