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UK housebuilders in retreat amid property downturn Developers cut back on buying land in effort to ride out weaker market
Friday 13th January 2023
The UK’s three biggest housebuilders are cutting back on new projects as they adapt to a downturn in the property market, adding to fears that a national housing supply crunch is set to worsen.
FTSE 100 developers Taylor Wimpey, Persimmon and Barratt Developments all said in updates this week that they would ease up on buying new land and developing it.
The trio pointed to economic uncertainty, a jump in mortgage rates and the imminent end of the government’s Help to Buy scheme as reasons to be cautious. Spiralling costs for homebuyers have contributed the most to a cooling of the housing market in recent months.
Chris Millington, a housing analyst at Numis, forecasted that the number of new homes built will fall by around 25 per cent year on year in 2023. “That’s similar to the first year fall off after the [2008] financial crisis, I’ve only witnessed a fall off like this once before,” he said.