Bovis Homes has said that its social and partnership housing business almost doubled its legal completions to 22% of the group’s total in 2005. The increase in this side of the business and the company’s focus on delivering smaller, affordable homes has reduced the size of legally completed homes by 11%. A fall in demand for Bovis’s traditional three and four bedroom homes led to a drop in volumes of 100 to 2,700 last year with an average sale price of £175,500, with the average price per square foot for private units up 3%. David Ritchie, finance director, said: “The consensus in the market place was a pre-tax profit of £118 million. We are going to be slightly below that figure, about 2%.” A statement by the company said: “There are encouraging signs of improving consumer confidence.” FT