The UK’s largest housebuilder has shrugged off fears of a sales slowdown in the months following the referendum and announced a record dividend payment to shareholders of £248m.
However, Barratt’s London sales were “softer” where it said higher selling prices remain more challenging. It said that to mitigate risks, it has taken pricing action on a number of sites in London, and arranged a build and sale agreement on a bespoke development of 39 apartments for a total value of £47m.
Sales were driven in northern and central regions, which were far stronger than the year before.
In a trading update for the four and half months from 1 July, it reported a sales rate over the period of 0.74 per week, against 0.71 in the year before, and said forwards sales were up 19.5% to £2,654m.
Chief executive David Thomas said: “Consumer demand is strong supported by good mortgage availability.
“We are mindful of the potential for economic uncertainty created by the outcome of the EU referendum. However, market fundamentals are robust, and we remain a housebuilder of choice.”
Nationally, site acquisitions were also down on the previous year, which Barratt attributed to caution immediately following the referendum.
The company has bought £200.2m of operational land over the trading period, amounting to 15 sites, compared to 36 sites worth £255.8m the year before.
“Whilst this is less than we would normally expect in this period, it was impacted by our caution immediately following the EU referendum,” it said.
“We expect to approve around 15,000 plots in FY17 as a whole and we remain on track to achieve our targeted owned land bank of 3.5 years by year end.”
Looking ahead, it said it expects average site numbers – 370 – to remain relatively flat over the next year, though it described the land market as attractive.
It said sector-wide, staffing constraints remain an issue, and that it was trialling and selectively implementing modern construction methods to reduce dependency on certain trades.
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