Its full year results showed this was an improvement on the 12,604 homes constructed last year, but virtually level on the 17,856 properties it delivered in 2019 before the pandemic hit.
David Thomas, chief executive of Barratt Developments said the group made “excellent progress” this year and noted it played a crucial role in providing homes in an atmosphere where there was “very strong demand for houses across the country”. It also said this was its contribution to the government’s aim of delivering 300,000 homes a year.
Thomas said the group hoped to do this with environmentally friendly initiatives in mind.
He added: “As we work towards our medium-term target of growing completions to 20,000 homes a year, we are committed to doing so as the leading national sustainable housebuilder – building homes which have a positive environmental, social and economic impact today and into the future.”
The group said it recognised the issues around fire safety guidance and cladding had caused issues and suggested a long-term solution with the involvement of the industry, supply chain and government.
In the meantime, Barratt Developments has contributed to the government’s consultation of establishing a residential property developer tax to raise revenue for the Building Safety Fund.
It also said to keep providing homes for new buyers, access to “affordable and competitive” mortgage finance was important.
The group pointed to its involvement in the trial of the Deposit Unlock Scheme, a reinsurance backed initiative which provides 95 per cent loan to value mortgages to borrowers financed by developers and provided by a mainstream lender.
Barratt Developments reported a profit before tax of £812.2m for the period, up 65 per cent on last year’s figure of £491.8m. Compared to the pre-pandemic year of 2019, this was down just 10 per cent on the £909.8m reported.
The group also improved its gross margin to 21 per cent, compared to 18 per cent last year. It said this reflected “market strength and completion volume recovery”. In 2019, its gross margin was 23 per cent.
Thomas said: “The board will continue to respond to changes in the market and the wider economy but believes that our operating performance, strong forward order book and further strengthened financial position provide us with the resilience and flexibility to react to changes in the operating environment in FY22 and beyond.”
