Vistry’s open-market sales rate fell to just 0.3 reservations per outlet per week over the summer as affordability pressures and weaker consumer confidence hit demand for new homes.
The housebuilder says open-market conditions became more challenging during the period amid lower customer confidence, affordability constraints and wider economic uncertainty.
Disappointing private home sales have contributed to Vistry lowering its year-end cash expectations, providing further evidence of the difficult market facing housebuilders trying to sell homes to individual buyers.
The slowdown comes as Vistry reports 6,304 completions during the first half of 2026, down 8% from 6,889 a year earlier, while adjusted revenue falls 9% to £1.7bn.
PRIVATE SALES SLOW
Vistry says: “Open Market conditions became more challenging over the summer months, reflecting lower customer confidence, affordability constraints and broader macroeconomic uncertainty, resulting in our Open Market sales rate slowing over the period to 0.3 reservations per outlet per week.”
The weaker sales environment has contributed to the group revising its expected year-end cash position to broadly neutral.
Vistry says this also reflects selective withdrawals or renegotiations of proposed partner deals following changes to its contracting criteria.
SHIFT AWAY FROM OPEN MARKET
The slowdown comes as Vistry prepares to reduce its exposure to private sales as part of a major overhaul of the business.
The housebuilder is targeting a medium-term tenure mix of around 60% Partner Funded homes and 40% Open Market, while its South East operations will move to a fully pre-sold model with no open-market exposure outside existing joint venture schemes as they complete.
Vistry also plans to increase its exposure to the North, Midlands and West.
Despite the difficult summer, the group’s revised forward order book stands at £3.3bn and Vistry is 91% forward sold for 2026.
