Avant Homes, the house builder run by former Persimmon boss Jeff Fairburn, has sunk deeper into the red after ramping up its fire safety remediation provision to over £100m.

The group, which completed 1,700 homes last year, swung to a £83m pre-tax loss for the year to 30 June 2024 after booking a £107m provision to cover cladding and fire-safety repairs on legacy developments.

Operating profit nosedived to £17m, down from £50m the previous year, with a further £15m of exceptional costs dragging on performance. These included restructuring fees, asset impairments, and costs tied to defective buildings.

Avant said the jump in its provision reflected more buildings being identified in need of remediation and revised cost estimates factoring in inflation.

The accounts confirm the group is also in talks with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to defer payments owed to the Building Safety Fund, a move that could ease short-term pressure on cash flow.

The house builder also flagged a potential £70m extra exposure in Scotland under new legislation mirroring the Building Safety Act — though that cost is not yet included in the books.

“We continue to develop a more detailed understanding of remediation costs… the level and cost of the remedial work will become increasingly clearer as we move through this process,” the company said.

Despite the scale of the hit, Avant has reduced net bank debt from £145m to £117m and still has access to a £250m revolving credit facility.

Revenue slipped 3.6% to £465m while private average selling prices rose slightly to £310,000.

Social housing completions dropped to 185 units (down from 287), while PRS homes jumped to 319 units from just 7 the year before.