Land News 4
Bovis looks to build on sales rise;
In the latest sign that consumers are re-entering the property market, Bovis Homes reported a rise in the number of homes it had sold to private investors and said new banking facilities would help it take advantage of any upturn during the year. The Kent company said it had completed just over 1,800 homes in 2009, slightly fewer than a year earlier, but that the percentage of private buyers had risen by a quarter against the same period. Reservations for private homes made during the year had soared 82 per cent to 1,801 as improved confidence and mortgage availability helped drive the market.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/236bd81c-023f-11df-8b56-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1

Land News 5
Work begins on biggest council house building programme in two decades;
Housing Minister John Healey has hailed the start of the biggest council house building programme in nearly two decades as work began today on the first of over two thousand new homes to help tackle waiting list pressures.

Mr Healey saw work get underway today in Tyneside on the first new site for Government funded council housing in the country. Many more sites across the country will follow in the coming weeks as the £141m council housing drive, which is set to create over five thousand construction jobs, gets underway.
http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/housing/1423830

Land News 6
Bovis and Balfour Beatty see strong sales;
House builder Bovis Homes says it has seen an increase in sales by a quarter in 2009.

The group saw 754 completions in the first half of 2009, rising to 1,049 in the following six months.

According to the group, a buoyant social housing market was boosting price rises, while the cost of private housing was down 9% at £165,500.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8460694.stm