Barratt sales boosted by Help to Buy scheme

Housebuilder Barratt Developments today said almost one-third of its customers used the Help to Buy initiative during the first half of its financial year.

The strong take-up for the UK government scheme, designed to assist buyers with a deposit of as little as 5 per cent, helped overall reservations at the builder rise to 6,195 in the six months to the end of December, an increase of 19 per cent on a year earlier.

Barratt’s forward sales now stand at more than £1.2 billion, up 71 per cent on a year ago, and chief executive Mike Clare said the group was well placed for the rest of the year and beyond.

Clare added: “As a result of the continued recovery of the housing market across all regions and our £3.1bn investment in new land over the last four years, we have been able to increase materially the number of new homes being built and our profitability.”

Barratt is due to publish its first-half results on 27 February.