Skills shortages have whittled away the benefits of price inflation for many housebuilders this year, says Countryside Properties chief executive Graham Cherry.
The boss of the South-east-based housebuilder said: 鈥淭he key thing that has been affecting us is the lack of skilled workers, which has resulted in higher build costs.鈥�
Despite these problems, the company raised profit beyond analysts鈥� expectations for the year to 30 September 1999. Pre-tax profit rose 31% to 拢19.2m on a record turnover of 拢251.8m 鈥� an increase of 23%.
The company sold 924 houses, compared with 762 the previous year, at an average selling price of 拢165 000, up from 拢138 000 last year.
