Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey raises £522m for land buying

Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey has secured £522 million in a fundraise to help it go on a land buying spree.

In a share placing shares were bought at 145p each, a 4% discount to yesterday’s close price. The funds were raised from new and existing shareholders, including retail investors, and employees were also able to participate.

Chief executive Pete Redfern bought shares worth £200,000. He now has a stake in Taylor Wimpey worth around £3.1 million.

Taylor Wimpey plans to take advantage of weaker land prices in the market.

It said yesterday when it launched the fundraise that disruption in the land market as result of the Covid- 19 pandemic had created “short term opportunities to acquire land from a broad range of sources at attractive returns and prices below pre-Covid-19 levels”.

Redfern also said yesterday that the company saw robust demand for homes throughout the lockdown period. He added : “Our order book remains strong with a healthy increase in reservations in recent weeks."