Clarion development entity falls to £22m loss amid ‘unprecedented operating environment’

In its accounts, Latimer Developments attributed the performance to “inflationary pressures impacting the supply chain” and higher interest rates, which had increased its finance costs and knocked mortgage affordability for buyers.

Many developers in London have faced similar challenges, as well as delays on getting high-rise schemes signed off by the Building Safety Regulator. The requirement for second staircases in blocks above 18 metres has also affected schedules. 

The firm’s accounts also warned that April’s change on the stamp duty threshold for first-time buyers meant that sales values and volumes will be lower “in the coming months”.

In its last full year, Latimer Developments reported a 29 per cent rise in turnover to £70.2m. It said its sales were boosted in the final months of the financial year as the stamp duty deadline approached.

Of the firm’s total turnover, 39 per cent came from open market sales. It sold 89 private sale homes, which generated £27.4m in revenue. This compared to 76 homes sold the previous year for nearly £29m.

However, Latimer’s bottom line was hurt by a 60 per cent rise in operating costs to £11.3m. Its cost of sales was £57.8m, a slight dip on the previous year.

Its finance costs rose by around £6.5m to £50m, while it also booked higher impairments on loans to its subsidiary partners.

Latimer completed construction of 40 homes, compared to 319 the year before.

A Clarion Housing Group spokesperson said: “The operating environment continues to be extremely challenging, but our group annual report reflects a robust performance overall and we are proud to have maintained a strong pipeline of new homes despite the wider pressures.”

This month David Lunts, outgoing chief executive of the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation, took over as Latimer’s new chair.

He previously spent nearly a decade as a Greater London Authority director and three-and-a-half years at the Homes and Communities Agency, the predecessor organisation of Homes England. 

Mr Lunts replaced Rupert Sebag-Montefiore, a former long-serving Savills executive, who had been Latimer’s chair since 2017. 

Update: at 4.21pm, 29.07.25

The article was edited to specify that Latimer Developments Limited acts as the parent to Clarion’s wider Latimer development arm including subsidiaries and a number of joint ventures, but that the accounts relate only to the individual entity itself. The headline and introduction were also amended to make this clear.