Vistry Cuts New-Build Prices by Average 6% and Lifts Sales Rate by One-Third

Vistry reduced the prices of some of its new-build homes earlier in 2026 and used more incentives to drive open-market sales and generate cash. Research from analysts at RBC showed that the company had knocked more than 10 percent off the prices of a number of its available homes, with the average price cut closer to 6 percent. The actions produced the intended result.

2 homes at each of its sites every week, a third more than in the same period of 2025. Those sales at lower prices have come at a cost. Vistry expects its pre-tax profits in the first half of 2026 to be lower than the £81 million delivered in the first six months of 2025.

Bosses anticipate the level of discounting and its effect on profit to reduce as the year wears on. The company now forecasts that its annual adjusted pre-tax profit is likely to be around £225 million in 2026. That figure is 10 percent or so below what analysts had been forecasting.

Vistry had been targeting an improvement in adjusted profit before tax in 2026 compared with 2025. The lower profitability reflects the up-front profit impact of the actions to accelerate cash generation. Vistry added that the use of increased incentives and discounts has been more significant on low margin sites.

6 percent, to 284¾p on the day of the announcement. Vistry shares have lost almost 80 percent of their value over the past 18 months and are now trading at levels not seen since 2008. Vistry was formed in 2020 when Greg Fitzgerald merged Bovis Homes with the housebuilding arm of Galliford Try.

Greg Fitzgerald is Vistry’s recently departed former chief executive. Towards the end of 2023 he pivoted the business towards a partnerships model building homes for housing associations and institutional landlords. Three-quarters of the homes Vistry built in 2025 were for partners.

The switch in strategy initially made the company the sector’s stock-market favourite, but its standing fell dramatically at the end of 2024 when Vistry admitted that it had underestimated the cost to build out nine sites in the south of England by £165 million.

Adam Daniels was promoted to chief executive of Vistry last month. One of Vistry’s regional managers, he is continuing with the plan set by Fitzgerald to accelerate sales, generate cash and reduce debt.

The findings of Adam Daniels’ first operational review will be relayed to shareholders before the end of September 2026. While the price reductions have spurred open-market sales, Vistry has seen some moderation in open-market sales in recent weeks. The company cited the war in Iran, which has brought about a rise in mortgage rates.

Those same events have started to create some upward pressure on build costs. Build costs are now expected to increase by around 4 percent in 2026, double the previous estimate. Demand from housing associations remains relatively subdued, though Vistry expects interest to step up later in the year as funding from the next round of social housing grants begins to flow through.

More positively, Vistry expects to end 2026 with net cash in excess of £100 million. It had previously said it was aiming for £100 million net cash at the end of 2026. In addition to the price cuts and incentives, Vistry has sought to bolster its cash position by pausing the share buyback scheme, slowing build rates and reining in land purchases.

Other developers including Barratt Redrow and Berkeley have also suggested that they are throttling back amid weakening demand, stagnant house prices and rising costs. The Times reported that Vistry’s decision to slash the prices of some of its new-build homes has led to a marked increase in sales but will put a bigger-than-expected dent in this year’s profits.