Barratt boss confirms over 200 buildings fall under cladding safety review
The boss of housebuilder Barratt has confirmed that more than 200 legacy properties fall within its safety review in a bid to fix the UK’s cladding crisis.
Chief executive David Thomas said the company was in talks with government around its plans to get housebuilders to fork out the cash to undergo safety works on buildings between 11 and 18 metres tall.
“We established an in-house Building Safety Unit in July 2021 which has brought additional expertise and resources to our existing review of our historic multi-storey buildings of all heights in light of evolving government guidance on building safety,” Thomas said in a media conference this morning.
“At 31 December 2021, 206 buildings over 11 metres were part of the ongoing review.
“Discussions are ongoing and we will continue to work constructively with government to ensure leaseholders are protected.”
Revenue slipped nearly 10 per cent to £2.25bn in the six months to December 31, from £2.5bn a year prior. Meanwhile, profit inched 2.6 per cent higher to £434m, from £423 in 2020.
Total home completions also sank a little over 11 per cent in the period, which was found to be lower in London.
Barratt put down to “unusually high” completions in the first half of 2021, but added that it was on track to deliver between 18,000 and 18,250 home completions this year.
Head of markets at interactive Richard Hunter investor said: “Demand has been stronger than perhaps even the company was anticipating, and came despite the watering down of the Help to Buy scheme and the end of the stamp duty holiday.
“Even so, from a government perspective the drive towards more home ownership remains intact, which helps provide a generally forgiving environment for the housebuilders.”