Large-cap housebuilder Barratt Developments PLC (LSE:BDEV) is targeting total home completions of between 13,000 and 13,500 in the new financial year.
That is 1,000 homes short of the 14,000 homes completed in the financial year that just ended.
In a full-year trading update, Barratt put the sluggish forecast down to the “profile of land acquisition over the past 24 months”, but added that “the average outlet numbers will grow” into financial 2026.
The forecast comes despite the opportunities presented by the Labour Party’s ambitions to deliver 1.5 million new homes in the following five years.
Management stated that the macroeconomic backdrop “remains challenging”, but signalled optimism of Labour’s pro-build manifesto pledges.
“We welcome the new government's urgency and focus on housebuilding and reform of the planning system as key to both unlocking economic growth and tackling the chronic undersupply of new homes,” Barratt stated.
“We look forward to working with government and wider stakeholders to address supply-side constraints and deliver the new homes, of all tenures, the country needs.”
Barratt shares dipped 2.5% in opening exchanges.