Barratt Developments is to ramp up its housebuilding to 20,000 homes a year, the company announced in its full-year results.
It delivered 17,579 homes in the year to 30 June – a 1.1% year-on-year increase and the group’s highest in a decade – and stated plans to boost the number considerably after it opened its new Cambridgeshire division.
Although private completions rose by 1% to 13,439, affordable completions were down by 3% to 3,241. Joint venture completions were up by nearly 20% to 899.
Revenue was up by 4.8% to £4.8bn and profit before tax up by 9.2% to £835.5m. Forward sales similarly rose by 11.1% to £3bn.
Alongside increased construction, Barratt said it would target a gross margin of 23%, having reported a 70bp rise to 20.7% in its results “despite continued headwinds in the high-end central London market”.
Barratt shrugged off ongoing political considerations. In his statement, John Allan, chairman of Barratt, said: “While political uncertainty continues around the country’s departure from the EU and ministerial changes in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the board remain confident in the strong fundamentals of the housing sector and our business.”
He said he expected the updated National Planning Policy Framework to positively affect housebuilding and praised the November 2017 Budget for cutting stamp duty for first-time buyers.
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