13th Nov 2013 09:13
LONDON (Alliance News) - Residential property development group Barratt Developments PLC Wednesday said it has seen a significant improvement in sales rates across all its operating regions, as net private reservations per week increased by almost 32% at 0.71, compared with 0.52 a year earlier.
In an interim management statement for the period July 1 to November 10, the housebuilder said private forward sales were up almost 47% at GBP1.13 billion compared with GBP768.5 million in 2012 as customer confidence returned.
Barratt said the UK government's Help to Buy shared equity scheme continues to provide strong support to the market and has accelerated the recovery in consumer demand for new homes.
Help to Buy is aimed at helping first-time buyers get on the property ladder. The first phase of the scheme in England started in April, when buyers of newly built homes were eligible for a 20% equity loan from the government on top of their 5% deposit.
Since its launch, over 2,800 of Barratt's reservations, excluding joint ventures have utilised the Help to Buy shared equity product.
"The market remains strong, driven by better lending conditions and improving customer confidence; we are increasing production and investment for the future," Chief Executive Mark Clare said in a statement.
Barratts also has added to its landbank, with 8,150 plots approved during the period, up from 3,685 plots a year earlier.
"Our disciplined approach to land buying over the last four years is bringing forward high-return sites into production, and we continue to secure excellent land opportunities. With better market conditions and the benefits of high return land, we are confident that we will deliver substantial improvements in our performance for the full year," Clare added.
The stock was trading at 322.80 pence Wednesday morning, down 4.50 pence.
By Anthony Tshibangu; [email protected]; @AnthonyAllNews
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