Barratt profits soar amid improving house market

Housebuilder Barratt Developments today said a raft of UK government initiatives to stimulate the housing market were working as it reported a 74 per cent jump in annual profits.

The group said schemes such as FirstBuy and Help to Buy, designed to help those with small deposits get on the housing ladder, were helping potential buyers secure mortgages, although it said the UK still faces “considerable” social and economic challenges because of a shortage of new housing supply.

For the year to 30 June, Barratt posted a pre-tax profit before one-off items of £192.3 million, up from £110.7m a year earlier, on revenues 12.2 per cent higher at £2.6 billion. Average selling prices rose to £194,800, from £180,500 a year ago.

Chief executive Mark Clare said: “These are significantly improved results and we have had a very strong start to the new financial year.

“We are seeing the housing market recovery starting to spread beyond London and the south east, with a 29.4 per cent increase in our average net private reservation rate across the group.”

The board proposed a final dividend of 2.5p a share, to be paid in November.