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A growing number of construction companies have said they will stop all essential work to help fight the coronavirus, but others continue to operate amid confusion over the government’s advice.
Housebuilder Persimmon has joined rivals Barratt Developments and Taylor Wimpey in promising to down tools.
But FTSE 250 listed Redrow is among those keeping sites open.
There is concern the virus will spread easily on busy construction sites.
The government has said work can continue so long as people are 2m (6.5ft) apart, but critics say this is impossible to enforce, and that public health should come first.
On Tuesday Taylor Wimpey, which builds over 10,000 homes a year, said it was closing all of its sites “because we believe it is the right thing to do”.
Barratt, meanwhile, said it would close 400 sites and offices to prioritise “the health and safety of customers and employees”.
Persimmon said it would stop all but essential work, such as ensuring partly-built homes were safe. But rivals said it was largely business as usual.
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“Aligned to government guidelines, construction activity continues across each of our active sites under extensive health and safety protocols,” said Cairn Construction, which built 2,200 homes last year.
On Tuesday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said any worker who could not do their job from home should go to work to “keep the country running”.
But Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, told ITV only construction workers doing jobs “critical to the economy” should go in.
He added that builders should not be going into people’s homes.
Former Tory cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith joined those calling for a pause to all non-essential work, telling BBC Two’s Newsnight: “I think the balance is where we should delete some of those construction workers from going to work and focus only on the emergency requirements.”
Andy Burnham, Labour Mayor of Greater Manchester, told the programme the decision to allow non-essential work appeared to have been made for “economic reasons”.
“When you’re in the middle of a global pandemic, health reasons alone really should be guiding all decision-making,” he said.
Some construction workers told the BBC they feel “angry and unprotected” going to work, while others are under pressure from employers to go in.
Many are self-employed and fear that they could lose income if their employers shut down.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has promised help for the self-employed in “the coming days” but said coming up with a plan had proved “incredibly complicated”.
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