Barratt feeling the benefit from ‘strong local demand’

Barratt Developments said it had created 3,000 jobs in the past year across the UK, after it increased the production of new homes to meet demand. It is also expanding its recruitment programme over the next three years for graduates, apprentices and trainees to 1,100, on top of the 600 it has already taken on.

The rise in employment follows a 35 per cent increase in its number of housing starts in 2013 to around 16,000, compared with 8,400 in 2009. The number of staff, including subcontractors, on Barratt’s sites in December was 17,900.

In 2013, the group increased the rate of sales by around 40 per cent, as it works to deliver on its pledge to build 45,000 homes in three years. Barratt said the results provide further evidence that demand is picking up, boosted by the Government’s Help to Buy scheme

Building on the “strong local demand”, the company said it was aiming to open 15 new sites across Yorkshire over the next year. These sites include 151 homes in Doncaster, 202 in Hessle, 182 in Barlby, 299 in Leeds, 244 in Bradford, 245 in Wakefield and 78 in the Kirklees district of West Yorkshire.

Paul Hogan, the sales director at Barratt Yorkshire East, said: “We have had made a lot of changes to the homes we are building and that really seems to be paying off. We are building the right homes in great locations.”

Barratt said its pre-tax profits more than doubled to £120.4m in the six months to December 31 – on the same day that rival Redrow said its haul for the same period increased 107 per cent to £47.5m.

The updates are in line with statements issued by other firms from the sector in recent days, as mortgage assistance schemes such as Help to Buy provide a boost for the market.

The boom means Flintshire-based Redrow is able to pay a dividend to shareholders in the half year for the first time in six years.

Chairman Steve Morgan said private reservations since January were up 24 per cent on last year from 12 per cent more outlets.

He added: “We expect the housing market to remain robust and for consumer confidence to improve in line with the economy.”

However, he repeated his previous concerns that the planning system is still failing to deliver planning permissions at a fast enough rate to meet demand for housing.

He hopes a consultation launched by the Government in December, which aims to speed up the planning process, will be implemented as quickly as possible.

Redrow’s sales per outlet per week in the first half of the year were 0.7, up 32 per cent on the previous year.