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The Conservatives have raised questions in parliament over the financial position of housebuilder Vistry, one of the government’s critical housing delivery partners, and the taxpayer’s exposure to any potential losses.
Vistry, whose shares in London have plunged more than 40 per cent in the last month, is one of only two private-sector developers given “strategic partner plus” status in Labour’s £39bn housebuilding programme. This means the company, one of the UK’s largest housebuilders, is allowed to bid for as much as £700mn in taxpayer subsidies.
Paul Holmes, shadow housing minister, has submitted a series of questions relating to the government’s due diligence in appointing Vistry as a major partner in its housebuilding agenda, which seeks to build 1.5mn homes this parliament. The government is expected to respond next week.
Following a series of profit warnings in 2024 and an overhaul of its management in 2025, the £1.3bn Vistry said last week that margins would come under pressure this financial year as it offers more sales incentives, sparking a 25 per cent share price slide in one trading session.
Chief executive and chair Greg Fitzgerald also announced his forthcoming departure from both roles last week, while the audit watchdog has launched an investigation into two former Vistry employees “in relation to the forecasting and financial reporting” during the financial years ending December 2023 and December 2024.
Holmes told the FT he had held concerns “for some time” about the company’s performance.
“For a number of years now Vistry have been issuing profit warnings that make their viability a concern,” he said. “The government needs to open up the Affordable Homes Programme to developers who believe that they could deliver, rather than creating what seems to me to be an uneven playing field that favours one developer.”
Holmes has asked ministers for the government’s total financial commitment to Vistry and its joint ventures through subsidy, loans and equity.
He has also asked for details of the liquidity checks carried out by the government’s housing agency Homes England when appointing delivery partners, as well as the checks it carries out on companies’ off-balance-sheet liabilities.
Vistry said in a statement: “The group retains a comfortable level of headroom against its banking facilities and continues to maintain a strong emphasis on cash discipline.”
It added: “Vistry built one in seven of the country’s affordable homes last year, and it has a crucial role to play in delivering the homes this country so desperately needs. [ . . . ] After a difficult trading performance in 2024, the Group successfully stabilised in the first half of 2025 and has made a positive start to 2026.”
The housing ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In early 2025 Vistry tightened cost controls after the profit warnings — which were tied to underestimated building costs — hit its shares.
Meanwhile, ministers gave Vistry “strategic partner plus” status in November under their 10-year Affordable Homes Programme, which starts in April, allowing the company to apply for as much as £700mn in subsidies from Homes England. Other potential partners without such status will have a cap of £350mn.
Housing minister Matthew Pennycook and previous housing secretary Angela Rayner have both publicly praised the company’s model.
Pennycook previously praised a joint venture signed in September between Homes England and Vistry subsidiary Countryside — backed by £50mn in government subsidy — to develop a series of neighbourhoods around the country.
Unlike other listed housebuilders, Vistry builds the majority of its homes under contracts with rental and affordable housing providers, a model it has pivoted towards in recent years.
Some analysts have raised questions over the last week about the company’s financial position. Bank of America and Investec called attention to the company’s debt levels, with BofA saying cash generation would have to be a priority for the group “again” this year.
Meanwhile, Barclays analysts wrote that “Vistry could be struggling to operate within the limits of its £1.1bn banking facilities”.
Also weighing on shares was a Bloomberg report last week that Vistry sold properties to a private equity firm at discounted prices to raise cash in recent years.
“As part of our partnership-led strategy, Vistry reviews all sites at the point of acquisition to determine any selective land sales, including the sale and leaseback of certain show homes. This is a core part of our capital-efficient model,” a spokesperson said.
On March 12, Fitzgerald bought more than 200,000 shares in the company worth about £900,000.