Business
Early signs of housing market recovery after sluggish 2025, says housebuilder
The UK housing market is showing “early signs” of recovery, Crest Nicholson has said, despite warning over low levels of demand and after missing its profit expectations for the year.
The Surrey-based housebuilder said it had seen inquiries pick up since the end of 2025.
It nonetheless gave a downbeat assessment of the market over the past year, pointing to tougher conditions that have prevailed even though interest rates and inflation have eased.
“The housing market remained sluggish throughout 2025 compared with much of the previous decade, with comparatively high mortgage rates, low consumer confidence and an absence of meaningful government support all contributing to the depressed levels of demand,” the company said in its full-year results announcement.
The company also indicated that there could be “material uncertainty” over its position as a going concern if trading worsens further.
Crest said it currently expects to meet all its banking covenants, but could breach these by April in a “severe but plausible” scenario.
It also stressed that it “maintains good relationships and a regular dialogue with all its lenders, and is confident that an amendment to its covenants would be secured if necessary”.
But its accounts said that this is “not guaranteed” and could therefore impact the firm’s ability to continue.
Crest, a developer of new build homes and communities, said it completed the sale of 1,691 homes in the year to the end of October, about a 10th fewer than the previous year.
Its pre-tax profit came in at £26.5 million – about 31% higher than the prior year, and below previous guidance of between £28 million and £38 million.
This was due to there being a weaker market over the second half of the year, Crest told investors.
It cautioned that this sentiment had continued into the new year, with demand failing to pick up since the autumn budget and confidence among UK consumers remaining low despite four interest rate cuts last year.
“However, since Boxing Day, forward indicators, including website visits, inquiries and appointment conversion, show early signs of improving activity levels,” it highlighted.
Lower interest rates and government support for housebuilding should help improve affordability and supply in the longer term, according to the business.
2026 will be a “transitional year in a difficult market”, boss Martyn Clark said, with the firm focusing on a range of “self-help measures” to get through.
Crest closed one divisional office in December which resulted in about 50 redundancies.
Business
Crude oil soars as Middle east conflict chokes supply routes, Hormuz concerns stokes panic – SUCH TV
Crude oil prices climbed on Monday on continuing fears of supply losses because of shipping disruptions in the key Middle East producing region from the US-Israeli war with Iran.
Brent crude futures rose $1.71, or 1.6%, to $110.74 a barrel by 0057 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained $0.71, or 0.6%, to trade at $112.25 per barrel.
On Thursday, the last trading day before the Good Friday holiday break, WTI settled up more than 11%, and Brent soared nearly 8% in volatile trading, recording their biggest absolute price increase since 2020, as US President Donald Trump promised to continue attacks on Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz, which carries oil and petroleum products from Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, remains largely closed by Iranian attacks on shipping after the war began on February 28.
Because of the Middle East supply disruptions, refiners are seeking alternative sources for crude, particularly for physical cargoes in the US and the UK North Sea.
“Global buyers are bidding aggressively for (US) Gulf Coast barrels, and Brent is rallying even faster,” the Schork Group said in a client note on Monday.
On Sunday, Trump ratcheted up pressure on Tehran, threatening in an expletive-laden Easter Sunday social media post to target Iran’s power plants and bridges on Tuesday if the strategic Strait of Hormuz is not reopened.
Still, some vessels, including an Omani-operated tanker, a French-owned container ship and a Japanese-owned gas carrier, crossed the Strait of Hormuz since Thursday, shipping data showed, reflecting Iran’s policy to allow passage for vessels from countries it deems friendly.
The war threatens to linger on as Iran has officially told mediators it is not prepared to meet with US officials in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, in the coming days, and efforts to produce a ceasefire have reached a dead end, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
On Sunday, OPEC+, consisting of some members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia, agreed to a modest rise of 206,000 barrels per day for May.
However, that decision will largely exist on paper as several of the group’s key producers are unable to raise output due to the war.
Russian supply has been disrupted recently by Ukrainian drone attacks on its Baltic Sea export terminal. Media reports on Sunday said its Ust-Luga terminal resumed loadings on Saturday after days of disruptions.
Trump wrote: “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP”.
Brazil, Japan, Mexico, South Africa and the US have stopped importing Spanish pork. Other countries, such as EU members, China and the UK, have taken a more localised approach, only banning pork that originates in the affected area of north-eastern Spain.
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Crude oil soars as Middle east conflict chokes supply routes, Hormuz concerns stokes panic – SUCH TV
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