Last July a penthouse suite in a Lytham housing development became the first £1m property sold by the Lancashire housebuilder Rowland Homes, which was founded in 1993 by Paul Rowley. The company sold 250 homes in north England last year. The business has grown rapidly thanks to rising land and property values. According to the company, it spent £1m on an acre of land and built 37 houses on it in 2002. They were all sold within an hour of going on the market for a total of £5.6m. Profits have risen 61% a year from £1.8m in 2001 to £7.4m in 2004.