Persimmon shares fall on Government comments

However, analysts at Liberum said Persimmon is the biggest user of the scheme (by units) so they would be very surprised if it was excluded from the scheme from 2021.

They also noted that many of the issues cited are now historic (eg, leaseholds, build quality and CEO remuneration).

York-based Persimmon said the business has been changing since Dave Jenkinson took over as interim CEO at the end of last year, particularly his efforts to improve customer service. Analysts expect more details about this new approach to be announced when Persimmon issues full year results on Tuesday.

Analysts also said that issues over leaseholds are something of a red herring as Persimmon is not one of the big offenders on this. Mr Jenkinson went on the record at the Select Committee last year saying that he will look at any leases where customers feel there is an issue.

The housebuilding sector has been criticised for practices such as selling houses with rising leasehold charges, which make them hard to sell, and for poor quality workmanship.

Shares of other FTSE-100 housebuilders, including Barratt Developments, Taylor Wimpey and Berkeley Group, were all down more than a 1 per cent on Monday.