UK housebuilder Barratt Developments has reported a strong start to the year with a rise in total forward sales.

In a trading update on the past four months, the company's total forward sales (including joint ventures) were up 8.4% to £2,876.0m (2016: £2,654.3m), equating to 12,843 plots (2016; 11,733 plots)

In addition, wholly owned forward sales were up by 7.1% to £2,642.1m (2016; £2,466.1m), equating to 11,963 plots (2016; 11,035 plots).

The Group said: "The strength of demand across our regions is demonstrated by net private reservations per average week of 268 (2016: 265) for the period, resulting in a sales rate of 0.74 (2016: 0.74) net private reservations per active outlet per average week.


"We have launched 79 (2016: 69) new developments in the period (including JVs), operating from an average of 373 (2016: 370) active outlets (including JVs). We expect average outlet numbers to grow modestly for the full year when compared to the prior year."

Chief Executive David Thomas said customer demand for new homes was supported by an attractive lending environment to help drive up sales rates.

"We remain committed to quality, build excellence and market leading customer service and are working hard to increase the supply of houses across the UK," he said.

"We remain focused on driving operational improvements through the business and we continue to be confident in delivering a good performance in FY18."

(LM/MH)