Barratt expects home completions ahead of estimates, reservation rates rise

(Reuters) - Barratt Developments Plc said on Thursday it expected to complete more wholly owned homes this year than its own estimates and was also seeing strong reservation rates, as the sector benefits from government measures and low interest rates.

Last month, UK Finance Minister Rishi Sunak extended tax breaks for home buyers until October and unveiled a mortgage guarantee scheme in the budget, moves that bolstered the housing sector after Prime Minister Boris Johnson unveiled a phased exit plan from COVID-19 lockdowns.

"We now expect to increase wholly owned completions to between 16,000 and 16,250 homes this year, along with around

650 joint venture home completions," said Chief Executive Officer David Thomas.

Britain's largest homebuilder, which restored dividend payments alongside February's first-half results, said net private reservations per active outlet per average week came in at 0.83, compared with 0.79 a year earlier.

Barratt said forward sales, including joint ventures, as of May 2 stood at 3.70 billion pounds ($5.15 billion), compared with 2.83 billion pounds as at May 3 last year, adding that it is fully forward sold for fiscal 2021.

British housing price growth accelerated in March after the tax-break extension, in its biggest increase in six months and compared with a flat reading in February.

($1 = 0.7191 pounds)

(Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)