Barratt eyes housing rally as it moves into the black

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The revival in the first seven weeks of 2012 saw sales revving 21.8% ahead of last year as more buyers flocked in and Barratt sold homes from a larger number of sites to meet demand.

Chief executive Mark Clare put the improvement down to a gradually thawing mortgage market and said the Government's new £250 million FirstBuy scheme to help first-time buyers with deposits was helping pent-up demand. Falling inflation is helping confidence by easing the squeeze on would-be buyers, he said. "People feel better about the economy, their jobs and the housing market in general. Housing tends to be the first into recession and the first out and we are very cautious because we have been here before, but it does feel a bit different this time," Clare said.

The shares, up 40% since the start of January, added 2.4p to 132.15p.

Barratt has growing exposure to a buoyant London market, launching its 27-storey Altitude residential tower in east London this week. Pre-tax profits were £21.6 million for the second half of last year, better than expected and a big improvement on the previous year's £4.6 million loss.

Rival Galliford Try pushed up half-year profits 89% to £32.2 million.