Barratt to resume building on May 11

Barratt said it would resume house building on half its sites on May 11, but those in Scotland wold remain shut for the time being.

Britain's largest house builder said it would reopen around 180, or half, its total locations,in the first phase of its plan to get up and running after the government lockdown was imposed in late March. Sales centres and show homes would remain shut in line with orders for retail operations.

The move means a significant proportion of Barratt’s furloughed workforce would be able to return to work earlier than planned in May. Sector peers such as Persimmon and Vistry have already announced plans to reopen sites.

"Since our sales centres closed we have continued to see customer interest, albeit at reduced levels compared to the period to 22 March 2020. As expected, since closing our sales centres, we have experienced a low level of reservations. We expect reservations to continue at low levels until our sales centres and show homes reopen," Barratt said.

It added that at April 28 had £430m of cash and total committed facilities and private placement notes of £900m, comprising a £700m undrawn revolving credit facilit2 and fully drawn £200m US private placement notes. The group confirmed it was eligible to access funding under the government's Covid Corporate Financing Facility.

Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Emilie Stevens said the move was "an important step but it’s too early for a fanfare".

"Reopening will be gradual, and the group’s retail shops and show homes are staying closed for now. We know life without a shop front is hurting Barratt‘s new sales, with reservations low throughout lockdown, and with construction efforts prioritising homes already started any additional new completions are unlikely," she said.

"Unlike some of its peers, who said prices had generally remained firm, we didn’t hear anything about price from Barratt. That’s not necessarily a bad thing but it makes judging the recovery difficult. We’ll need more clarity on prices and the demand for houses as the UK eases lockdown before we can plot a course forward.”