VOLUME 3 I S SU E 2

May 2010 update

Housing market sees 'spring bounce'
Property prices and sales levels rose in April as the housing market witnessed a spring bounce, latest research has shown. The
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. Activity levels are expected to continue increasing during the coming months, with many
surveyors expecting the market to gain momentum following the General Election.

Housebuilder Bovis has boosted its sales by 11 per cent in the first four months of 2010. The firm reported the year-on-year
improvement at its Annual General Meeting last week, adding that average selling prices were also ahead of expectations.

Chief executive David Ritchie said: “By 30 April 2010, the group held 1,208 sales for 2010 legal completion. This is an 11 per cent
increase on the comparable 1,092 sales for 2009 legal completion held at the same point in 2009.” Recent Bovis land acquisitions
include 811 plots across seven sites, with terms agreed in principle on a further 18 sites that will provide another 2,500 plots.

Sales at house builder Persimmon have increased 20 per cent to £1.15 billion compared to this time last year. Persimmon is
currently operating from almost 375 sites, having opened 50 new sites in the first three months of the year. It has a further 40
sites which it currently intends to start during the second quarter of the financial year.

Taylor Wimpey has said that market conditions remain “encouraging” for the housebuilder, with continued gradual
improvements in mortgage availability and buyer confidence. In a statement to the city covering the period from January 1 2010
to April 29, the firm said: “We entered 2010 with a strong order book position and have continued to focus on building on this
sales momentum and enhancing margins.” The company added that it was approximately 99% sold for the half year and 74% sold
for the full year targeted completions.

Galliford Try Construction Group managing director Ken Gillespie has warned he cannot rule out further job cuts at the business
as he steers it through the recession. He said the contracting arm of Galliford Try would only compete for work it could make
money from and perform well on - even if this meant shrinking in size.

Crest Nicholson was this week expected to appoint Morgan Stanley to act as adviser on a potential sale. The move, which sources
said was supported by the 40 banks that own the company, follows confirmation last week that a listed vehicle backed by Pizza
Express entrepreneur Hugh Osmond was in talks to buy the firm.

Indesit Company UK has unveiled John Morrissey as the company's new MD for the UK and Irish markets. Indesit says it is
Europe's second largest manufacturer of home appliances by market share. In the UK with its main Indesit, Hotpoint and Cannon
brands, it is the largest manufacturer with a 27% market share.

Tesco is planning to develop four ‘mini-

villages’ in the South-east of England along
with 'mixed-use living' and leisure schemes in
Ipswich and North-east England.
According to a the Times, the supermarket giant is planning to build
scores of homes and taking advantage of the house market
recovery which has seen prices up about 10% since last April.

It is also in advanced talks with Dartford Borough Council over a

development of around 1,000 homes. It is finalising the details of
900 homes in Woolwich.
 PAGE 2 DBD NEWSLETTER

Statistics
Applications to NHBC to start new housing in Great Britain in the first quarter of 2010
Mothly Snapshot stood at 27,200, 74% up on the same quarter last year according to the warranty
body's latest stats. Of these, 24,100 were in England, 80% up on the 13,400 starts in
March 2010 the first quarter of 2009.

 Private sector applications at 18,412 for the three months to March 2010,
DBD Market share were up 114 per cent when compared with the same period last year (8,613)
 Public sector figures for the three months to the end of March were 9,562 -
26 per cent higher than the same period a year ago (7,619).
15.20%

UK New-build sales, registrations and completions DBD England and Wales Snapshot
Mar 09 Mar 10
Average daily sales 325 327 0.62% Mar 09 Mar 10
Private registrations 2,943 7,034 139.01% Plot Completions UK 10,999 10,378 -5.65%
Private completions 7,215 6,604 -8.74% DBD plots completion 889 1,416 +59.28%
Housing association registrations 2,439 2,812 +15.29% DBD market share 9.11 15.20% +66.85%
Housing association completions 3,634 3,596 -1.05% Newbuild starts 5,832 9,846 +68.83%

25.00%
Market Share by Month
20.00%
15.00%
10.00%
5.00%
0.00%
Nov-07

Jan-08

Nov-08

Jan-09

Nov-09

Jan-10
Jul-07

Jul-08

Jul-09
May-07

May-08

May-09
Mar-08

Mar-09

Mar-10
Sep-07

Sep-08

Sep-09
20.00%
Market Share Rolling 12 Months
15.00%
10.00%
5.00%
0.00%

40000
Units sold YOY
30000

20000

10000

0
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010