NATIONAL housebuilding firms - including some with developments in Gwent - have outlined plans to resume construction during the coronavirus lockdown.

Yorkshire firm Persimmon has said it will begin a "phased re-opening" of its sites from Monday, April 27 to help complete new homes under construction.

The firm shut down its construction sites, sales offices and moved non-site staff to work from home on March 25.

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David Jenkinson, chief executive officer of Persimmon, said: "The UK Government has been very clear on the importance of the construction sector to the UK economy and its desire to see activity continue through the current period of crisis, provided appropriate public health measures are adopted.

"Nothing is more important to us than the health, safety and wellbeing of the public, our colleagues, sub-contractors and suppliers.

"Having spent the last month developing and testing new site protocols that incorporate the necessary social distancing and protective measures, we believe that we are now able to return to site safely and support the UK's economic recovery from the pandemic."

Taylor Wimpey has also said it plans to resume work on its construction sites, with operations scheduled to restart from May 4.

The company said it will re-start activity on the majority of its sites in England and Wales using "detailed new site operating protocols developed in compliance with strict social distancing requirements".

However, detail on specific developments was not outlined.

The firm said its order book increased to £2.67 billion to the week of April 19, up from £2.4 billion a year earlier.

Chief executive Pete Redfern said: "Our first priority is always the health and safety of our customers, employees, sub-contractors and suppliers.

"We took an early decision at the end of March to close our sites while we assessed in detail how to build homes without compromising on health and safety or quality.

"We are now confident that we have clear plans and processes in place so we can safely start back on site in a phased way beginning on May 4."

Elsewhere, Vistry Group said it will re-start work on 90 per cent of its partnership sites and a "significant number" of housing sites from the start of next week.

The company, which was recently renamed from Bovis Homes, also said it had received 80 cancellations and completed 193 private sales following the pandemic.