In 2015 and 2016, when the market for development sites was a lot quieter than today, Cairn was one of the most active participants in the market. It spent €679 million on land in 2015/16. The plan was to buy land while the market was still cheap, build houses and apartments, and sell. Cairn was (and still is) focused on starter homes over apartments, at a ratio of about 3:1. Seven years later, the homes are slower in coming than had been expected. You can see this in Cairn’s balance sheet ratios. Return on equity shows profits over book value.…

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