Barratt Developments said profits were up also 10 per cent over the last 12 months despite a drop in the number of new homes sold.
The UK’s biggest housebuilder completed 17,206 homes in the year to the end of June, almost 4 per cent 700 fewer than the year before. It said construction slowed as the costs of building a home rose faster than the price the company could charge buyers.
The business – which is based in Coalville, Leicestershire, and has its roots in the North East – said statutory pre-tax profits were up 9.8 per cent for the year at £705.1 million, on revenues of £5.3 billion (up 1 per cent).
The average selling price of a Barratt home was up about £20,000 to £319,600.
The business said “whilst the company remains in a strong financial position, the UK housing market remains difficult and the outlook remains uncertain” as buyers deal with increased mortgages and a higher cost of living.
Chief executive David Thomas said: “We have delivered a strong operational performance in a challenging operating environment.
“Customers continue to face cost-of-living and mortgage affordability challenges, and new developments are increasingly constrained by an ineffective planning system.
“Today’s results reflect the hard work and dedication of our teams and the decisive actions we have taken as a business to respond to market conditions.
“Whilst we expect that the backdrop will continue to be difficult over the coming months, we are a resilient business with a strong balance sheet and an experienced management team.
“We remain committed to building the communities that our customers want to live in – delivering high-quality, sustainable homes at competitive prices to help address the country’s housing crisis and drive long term, sustainable growth for our business.”
It comes as the British Chambers of Commerce said Britain would narrowly avoid a recession this year – but people and businesses will still feel the pain akin to the 2008 financial crash.
The UK economy is on course to eke out growth of 0.4 per cent over 2023, the business group predicted in its latest quarterly economic forecast.
It is a marginal upgrade from the 0.3 per cent gross domestic product (GDP) level previously forecast by the group.
GDP will then drop to 0.3 per cent over 2024 and nudge up slightly to 0.7 per cent over 2025, a downgrade from its previous expectations.
It means the nation could avoid falling into a technical recession, which is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth.
But the meagre growth level over a prolonged period of time is comparable to previous periods of economic shocks and recessions, such as the oil crises of the 1970s and the 2008 financial crisis, the BCC warned.
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