Berkeley ‘cautious’ as property sales slump

ONE of Britain’s biggest housebuilders has warned it will take a “cautious approach” to putting new homes on the market as its sales slump.

The housebuilder said it would focus on controlling costs, while adding that building cost inflation was “showing early signs of moderating”. Berkeley Homes said in a trading statement yesterday: “Whilst the prevailing volatility in the market persists, Berkeley will continue to match supply to demand, adopting a cautious approach to releasing new phases to the market.”

Berkeley Homes also said that its sales levels have remained stagnant since December last year, which was around 25pc lower than before Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-budget shook the housing market in September.

This slowdown in the property market has been reported by several housebuilders including Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon, who have both said they would reduce the number of homes they build.

Jennie Daly, Taylor Wimpey chief executive, said she hoped Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor, would act to end economic uncertainty in his Budget on Wednesday.

“The first thing we would be hoping for is stability,” she said. “And I hope we’re not going to experience the same sort of uncertainty we did at the end of September.

“The Chancellor has to strike the right balance of supporting the economy, sorting out housing and getting inflation under control.”

This drop in sales demand came as lender Nationwide said that house prices fell at their fastest rate in more than a decade in February.

On a monthly basis, house prices fell for the sixth time in a row and declined by 0.5pc to £257,406 between January and February.

Buyer demand has been dampened by double-digit inflation, higher borrowing costs and the worst cost of living crisis in a generation.