Barratt Developments boss shrugs-off house price bubble fears
THE boss of Barratt Developments yesterday played down fears of a house price bubble and said government support for home buyers remained necessary to support the market.
Chief executive Mark Clare said there were concerns about prices in central London but added: “The situation in the rest of the country is very different. We are just starting to see recovery and prices growing in the regions.”
In a trading update for the past 18 weeks, the company said it was on track to sell 14,250 homes in the year to the end of June. Clare said government-backed programmes such as Help to Buy were playing an important role in helping first-time buyers and the scheme had been used in 2,150 reservations.
The situation in the rest of the country is very different. We are just starting to see recovery and prices growing in the regions
Stronger market conditions and lower mortgage costs from such schemes meant the amount of incentives offered to buyers, such as part exchange, had fallen. Forward sales, where a home has been reserved with a deposit, stood at £1.9billion on May 4, a rise of 46.5 per cent on a year ago.
“The important thing for us is that we enter the 2015 year with a stronger order book,” added Clare. The shares rose 6¼p to 382½p.
