Clyde Lewis of Peel Hunt said: “In our view, the likelihood of the company being bought by any other industry players looks remote given the liquidity in the land market.

“Therefore, the key to the shares performing better will be the group’s ability to turn itself around operationally. Without knowing who the chief executive will be to lead this charge, we see no need to get involved.”

Shore Capital’s Robin Hardy added that a review of the firm’s structure could also mean a “closure of operations outside the South-East and a retrenchment to a smaller and more regional business”.

Bovis held the dividend payout unchanged today in a bid to assuage shareholders but Hardy added that the problems could “have deeper roots” and take more than a year to resolve.”

The FTSE 250-listed firm saw its pre-tax profits fall to £154.7mln for the full-year to December 31, down from £160.1mln a year earlier and below the firm’s own forecast of £160mln-£170mln, even though revenues rose by 11% to £1.054bn.

In reaction to the profits fall, Bovis shares dropped over 9% in early trading, down 75.5p to 765.5p, dragging other houserbuilders lower in its wake.

Bovis surprised the market at the end of December by saying it would miss market forecasts after failing to build the volume of homes it anticipated in 2016.

The group built nearly 4,000 homes last year but said it expected volumes to fall by between 10% and 15% in 2017 before a return to “normal industry production,” despite almost all its peers building more homes and posting bumper profits.

Earl Sibley, Bovis’s interim chief executive said: “We have a clear set of operational priorities for 2017 and are fully committed to improving our levels of customer service and delivering high quality homes this year and in the future.

“The fundamentals of the business remain strong with a robust financial position and high quality land bank.”

In a note to clients, analysts at Liberum pointed out: “Management has warned that to resolve the quality issues that hit 2016, it will slow production down by 10-15% in 2017 and that costs will rise as it invests in its processes once again.

“This suggests that 2017 consensus EPS estimates could fall by around 25%.”

However, repeating a ‘hold’ rating and 775p price target on the stocks, they added: “The 2016 NAV of 757p should act as a support for the shares, and management has pledged to maintain the 45p dividend in 2017.”

Despite the 2016 profits fall, Bovis still raised its dividend to 45p per share, up 13% from the 40p paid in 2015.

They bang them up as quickly as possible and the perception is that there’s more money in doing that and sorting out the inevitable snagging problems later than there is in taking the time to do it properly in the first place.

The rooms are too small – did you know they use furniture that is smaller than standard in the show homes to give the illusion of space? When you put your own double bed in the biggest bedroom there’ll barely be room to walk round it.

Land is a valuable asset so your garden will barely be big enough for a swingball.

There are also now stories about homes being sold leasehold with the freeholds being sold on to third parties and not made available to the homeowners so that remortgaging or selling after a few years requires a new lease which the freeholders can charge a mint for. All sorts.