Housebuilder Barratt makes pre-tax profit of £390m

Barratt’s latest annual pre-tax profit ran to £390m. The housebuilder achieved an average selling price of £166,000.

Charles Toner, chairman, said: “The medium- and long-term fundamentals of the housing market remain sound, reinforced by a continuing serious shortage of new homes resulting from the very slow planning system.”

Barratt’s financial results (12 months to 30 June) show turnover much the same at £2.4bn (previous year’s figure: £2.5bn).

The average selling price was down from £172,000 in the previous year as a result of increased social housing completions and a different geographic mix.

Land stocks have strengthened to 67,000 plots, equivalent to 4.5 years’ supply. Barratt has net cash of £35m.

Chief executive David Pretty steps down at Christmas after 27 years with the group. Mark Clare, his successor, will come on board on 2 October, the three-month transition should result in an orderly hand-over of the reins.

Barratt’s new iPad product is targeted at bridging the affordability gap for first-time buyers. The first 30 iPads, recently completed in Middlesbrough, were all sold ahead of construction, at prices from £85,000.

Another 120 iPads are now under construction on five new sites, with 11 further sites for 484 iPads soon to start.

Barratt’s ‘Eco-village’ of new homes in Chorley, Lancashire, carrying the latest in energy efficient and ‘green’ technologies, is being independently assessed by researchers from Manchester University.