Shareholders will have the chance to vote on the proposal today as they meet to decide on the housebuilder’s £1 billion takeover of the residential arm of construction firm Galliford Try.

Backlash: Shareholders will have the chance to vote on the pay proposal

The acquisition will make Bovis Britain’s fourth-largest housebuilder, potentially producing up to 12,000 homes a year.

If the takeover and pay scheme is approved, bosses would be able to earn long-term performance share bonuses of up to 200 per cent of their salary – up from 150 per cent previously – as well as cash bonuses of up to 150 per cent of their salary – up from 100 per cent.

Bovis has said the pay deal is justified because the combined business will be trickier to run and that it is in line with the wider industry.