Housebuilder keeps emphasis of brownfield regeneration and social housing.
Barratt Developments says it has increased its UK housebuild turnover by 6% to almost £2.5bn despite “challenging market conditions throughout the last financial year”, but declined to make any assessment of what might happen in the short-term future. The increase in turnover, coupled with an improvement in margins, helped the group make a pre-tax profit of £406m, up 11% over 12 months.
Chairman Charles Toner says that with 82% of Barratt homes built on brownfield sites the group is maintaining its position as Britain’s leading urban regenerator. “We also reinforced our leading position in the provision of social housing,” he said.
Looking forward, Toner said that Barratt’s total land bank now stood at more than 61,000 plots, or more than four years' supply.
He said: “The short-term economic outlook remains unclear and it is too early to assess the market for the rest of our financial year. Forward sales now stand at £900m, which, together with completions to date, secures over 60% of our full year requirement. We are operating on the assumption that the market will remain challenging but should it improve, we have the land, planning and capacity to respond and increase volume."
