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Berkeley Group Holdings PLC on Friday lamented the complexity of the current planning system in the UK and a lack of clarity regarding regulatory changes, as it reconfirmed its full-year guidance. The Cobham, Surrey-based housebuilder is holding its annual general meeting on Friday. It will tell shareholders that it expects to deliver at least £1.05 billion in pretax profit across the current and next financial years that end on April 30. This likely to be slightly weighted to financial 2024, it said, meaning the current financial year. For financial 2023, it had reported a pretax profit of £604.0 million. Profit for the current year is expected to be split broadly evenly between the first and second half, the company said. Berkeley added that it remains on track to be working capital neutral over the course of this and the next financial year. ‘In terms of the sales market, enquiries have stayed at similar levels over the last four months, but the value of underlying private sales reservations is some 35% below last year’s rate, reflecting the elevated macro-economic and political volatility. Pricing remains resilient and above our business plan levels, due to the constrained supply of both new-build and second-hand homes to the market, while cancellation rates are stable,’ Berkeley said. It complained that lack of regulatory clarity in the UK continued to ‘deter investment into brownfield regeneration and the wider housebuilding sector. ‘Consequently, Berkeley has not acquired any land in the period and will only invest very selectively in new opportunities.’ Further, Berkeley said that October will see the transfer of responsibility for building control sign-off to the new building safety regulator, with whom the company is working to minimise any potential disruption. More positively, build cost inflation is at ‘negligible levels’, Berkeley said. Berkeley shares were down 0.2% at 3,966.00 pence each on Friday morning in London. Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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