Redrow boss has eye on Pidgley crown

Tony Pidgley may have been crowned king of the property industry, but Redrow boss Steve Morgan wants to snap at his heels in the capital.

The housebuilder is making its first concerted push in London since major shareholder and chairman Morgan returned to the helm in 2009.

Redrow has bought five sites with a development value of £200 million, ranging from
£2 million detached homes in Ealing, flats in Kingston-upon-Thames and luxury apartments in Connaught Place, although the benefits of the thrust into the capital are unlikely to be felt in results for two years.

Morgan has been a fierce critic of the planning system but welcomed George Osborne's reforms, which include a presumption in favour of sustainable development. He also reckons the Chancellor should look to housebuilders for growth by unclogging the market for first-time buyers.

He said: "During the 1930s and the post-war years, the significant home building activity of the time not only provided desperately needed new homes, it also provided a huge stimulus."

Redrow's shares rose 2.9p to 119.4p today as it unveiled annual profits of £25.3 million in the year to June, up from £700,000 previously.