Berkeley Group’s home reservations hit by stamp duty and the Brexit vote
Berkeley Group, the housebuilder recently relegated from the FTSE 100, has said in a statement today that reservations for its properties have fallen by 20 per cent as compared to last year.
Stamp duty tax changes and the EU referendum had made trading more difficult, it said in its trading statement today, which covers the period from 1 May to 31 August.
Berkeley Group's share price was up 3.57 per cent in early morning trading.
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After the Brexit vote, Berkeley Group held back on delivering homes, but said today that after the "hiatus either side of the referendum", the market returned to "normal" – 20 per cent down on August 2015.
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"Importantly, throughout 2016, site visitor numbers and enquiries have been at similar levels to the same period last year, demonstrating the strength of underlying demand, although consumers are taking longer to commit," Berkeley Group said.
There was "a temporary and expected increase" in the number of purchases cancelled after the UK referendum result, but house prices "remained resilient".
The company is aiming for £2bn of pre-tax profit by the end of April 2018 and will pay out a dividend of £1 per share on 15 September.