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First-time Buyers

Barratt reports higher forward sales amid property market boom

Christina Hoghton
Written By:
Christina Hoghton
Posted:
Updated:
27/02/2024

There is strong customer demand for home, with Help to Buy proving particularly popular

Barratt Developments has seen completions and forward sales increase annually as demand in the property market grew over summer.

For the period between 1 July and 11 October the company delivered 4,032 homes, a 24 per cent increase on last year. Additionally, its forward sales rose 17 per cent to 15,135 units with a total value of £3.6bn.

Lack of high LTVs pushing Help to Buy

Barratt’s update noted that the lack of high loan to value mortgage availability resulted in a heavier reliance on the Help to Buy scheme.

The proportion of Barratt homes reserved for Help to Buy borrowers increased from a share of 45 per cent last year to 51 per cent during the period. Of those, 74 per cent were first-time buyers, a small rise from the 70 per cent who used the firm to get onto the property ladder last year.

Future growth

Following a suspension on land purchases during the Covid-19 lockdown, Barratt resumed with the acquisition of 4,160 plots across 15 sites and approved the purchase of 484 plots on four sites.

If current market conditions remain and there are no further national lockdowns, the firm expects to complete up to 15,000 for the full year to 2021 with an additional 650 homes delivered through its joint ventures.

David Thomas, chief executive, said: “Health and safety remains our number one priority and we remain focused on keeping our people safe while we rebuild completion volumes, bring further operational improvements to our business, and deliver on our commitment to build the highest quality homes across the country.

“There is continuing strong customer demand for our homes and we have a healthy forward order book.”

He added: “As we look ahead, whilst significant economic and political uncertainties persist, we believe our disciplined approach and strong balance sheet provide us with the resilience and flexibility to react positively to future challenges.”