Taylor Wimpey raises £522M for land acquisitions.

Taylor Wimpey raises £522 million from investors to buy land in the U.K. and various European countries such as Spain. The British housebuilder aims to take advantage of potentially cheaper land prices due to the pandemic.

The developer is launching two new projects on Spain’s Costa Blanca with a €48 million investment which were scheduled to launch in March, but have been delayed by the coronavirus. One of these developments, Essential, is planned in Javea and will consist of two and three-bedroom apartments whilst the second is projected in Santa Pola, and will consist of 170 apartments with two and three bedrooms and sea views.

The group said it had received «strong support» for the share placing with institutional and retail investors, having originally aimed to raise £500 million. Announcing the plans late on Wednesday, Taylor said it is «now seeing a significant opportunity to invest in land at attractive prices».

Taylor said the disruption in Britain’s land market as result of the Covid-19 crisis has created «short-term opportunities to acquire land from a broad range of sources at attractive returns and prices below pre-Covid-19 levels».

It has continued to actively acquire land throughout the pandemic, buying 12 sites in recent weeks.

The group said the money raised – including £200,000 from chief executive Pete Redfern – would go towards another 13 sites it is currently buying as well as 60 more the group is in discussions to acquire.