Berkeley starts buying land again

Berkeley Group has said that its main markets in London and the South East remain stable and that it has bought several new sites in recent months.

The house builder, which reported signs of stability in the housing market in June, said that cancellation rates were at normal levels and forward sales had been maintained at over £600m.

"The strength of Berkeley's well-bought land bank and the robust trading performance in the first four months of the year, provides the board with confidence that operating margins can be maintained within the group's historic range," the Berkeley trading statement said.

It predicted that the house builder's full-year performance would be in line with expectations.

Berkeley said it had net cash of over 300 million pounds at the end of August and did not not expect to have to make any write-downs on the value of its land bank.

The house builder has acquired a number of new sites recently, including Johnson House in London's upmarket Belgravia.