Barratt plots 'down by almost half'

Home building company Barratt has reported a massive slowdown in the demand for mass-produced homes.

The company's £817.7 million forward order book is currently at almost half capacity, with only 5,513 plots planned for development, compared to 10,424 in the same period last year, according to the Telegraph.

This could result in more plots being up for grabs for self builders.

Analyst Imran Akram at Collins Stewart told the newspaper: "Barratt has been in the vanguard of cutting prices and chasing volume, since it was the first housebuilder to renegotiate covenants.

"In our view pressure is now growing on the group’s competitors, who are now also obliged to chase volumes by cutting prices. This means that Barratt may find it more difficult in future to maintain volumes."

Further statistics show that the company's private net reservations also fell by 23 per cent in the 19 weeks from July 1st, 2008, compared to last year, representing 0.36 private sales a week.