Trading Statement

Crest Nicholson PLC
16 November 2006

                                        

                                                              16th November 2006

                              Crest Nicholson Plc 
                           Year End Trading Statement                           
                                                                              
Crest Nicholson PLC (Crest) the residential and mixed use development company,
is providing the following trading update in advance of its results for the year
ended 31st October 2006 expected to be announced in January 2007.

Commenting today, Stephen Stone, Chief Executive said:

"Trading for the full year 2006 has been in line with our expectations. We are
pleased with the 22% increase in housing completions achieved in 2006.

"While interest rate increases could moderate house price inflation in 2007, the
fundamentals of the housing market remain good with low unemployment and a
continuing shortage of supply in our main areas of operation in southern England
and the Midlands. With total forward sales at a new record high of over £400m
and a 9% improvement in open market forward sales for 2007 vs 2006, we are well
placed to deliver a c. 15% increase in both open market and affordable housing
completions in the year ahead.

"The Business Improvement Initiative has helped to put a sharper commercial edge
on our business and we expect it to underpin improvements in our operations.
This, coupled with our market position in both urban regeneration and
traditional housebuilding and the quality of our land banks, offers excellent
prospects for future growth and increased value."

HOUSING

Total housing completions in 2006 were c. 22% higher than in 2005 at 2,946 units
(2005: 2,417)

Open market housing completions of 2,035 were slightly ahead of the 2,000 we
predicted at the interim results and the 2005 comparative of 1,960. As expected,
we have doubled affordable unit completions to 911 (2005: 457)

As predicted, the average sale price was just under £200k, down from £225k in
2005, largely due to this increased proportion of affordable units.

For 2007, we are on track to increase both open market and affordable housing
completions by c.15% as our regeneration business begins to make a full
contribution. The average sale price is expected to be similar to 2006. The
volume gains will principally benefit the second half because of the pattern of
apartment completions.

Forward sales at the financial year end were £400.6m (2005: £389.6m)

MIXED USE COMMERCIAL

Commercial property sales from our mixed use schemes were c. 55% of the £92.3m
recorded in 2005 because of planning delays to the Camberley project. Due, in
part, to this, 2007 commercial property sales are expected to exceed 2006.

LAND SALES

Crest's unit volumes are showing good growth rates and the planning system is
showing no signs of easing. We therefore intend to retain a greater proportion
of our land with development consent. As predicted at the interim results, land
sales in 2006 were about 15% lower than the £62.7m recorded in 2005. The trend
towards lower land sales is expected to continue in 2007.

LAND BANKS

The land market remains competitive but our strong reputation and track record
has enabled us to maintain the short term housing land bank at over 16,000 plots
after excluding the Heartlands project in West Lothian which has not become
unconditional within the prescribed contract period.

The quality of the strategic portfolio has improved during the year. Of the c.
12,000 strategic plots, we now have c. 2,000 plots with planning applications
lodged and good prospects for further conversions to the short term housing land
bank.

MARKET OUTLOOK

While interest rate increases could moderate house price inflation in 2007, the
fundamentals of the housing market remain good with low unemployment and a
continuing shortage of supply in our main areas of operation in southern England
and the Midlands.

With total forward sales at a new record high of over £400m and a 9% improvement
in open market forward sales, we are well placed to produce good returns for our
shareholders and we are confident that 2007 will be a year of growth for Crest
Nicholson.


Enquiries to

Stephen Stone, Chief Executive                        Andrew Fenwick/Kate Miller
Peter Darby, Finance Director                         Robert Gardener
Crest Nicholson Plc                                   Brunswick Group LLP
Tel: [phone]                                     Tel: [phone]



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