Mark Clare, chief executive of housebuilder Barratt, has said a drop in reservations since the end of June is in line with seasonal trends and not the start of a double-dip housing recession

At the firm’s 2010 results presentation on Wednesday, Clare said net private reservations in the 10 weeks since its year-end on 30 June averaged 0.48 per active site per week, down on last year’s figure of 0.51.

The fall followed reports that reservation levels across the industry had fallen to record lows in August, according to internal figures compiled by the Home Builders Federation (HBF).

A company statement said: “This [0.48 figure] is slightly down on the prior year when sales for the traditionally quieter period were stronger than normal but it is in line with the rate required to achieve our projected volumes for the current financial year.”

House buyer and seller activity levels have continued to be extremely low

Company statement

Clare said: “I can’t comment on the HBF figures because we only know our part of them.

But it is a tough market and we will have to wait and see what will happen.”

In the 12 months to 30 June, net private reservations were up 4.2% to 0.5 per active site per week. However, total completions were down from 13,277 to 11,377, in line with the company’s policy of accepting “lower sales volumes to preserve value”.

As a result, Barratt’s operating profit before exceptional items was £90.1m, up from £34.2m in 2009, producing an operating margin of 4.4% (2009: 1.5%).

The company statement added: “By historic standards the market remained difficult and activity levels continued to be extremely low in terms of the number of house buyers and sellers.”

As part of the housebuilder’s efforts to put the company on an even financial keel, net debt was slashed from £1.3bn to £367m.