- Barratt, Persimmon and Taylor Wimpey shares all rise on Friday
Housebuilder shares rose on Friday following Labour’s victory in the general election.
Barratt shares rose 1.97 per cent or 9.7p to 501.70p on Thursday morning, while Taylor Wimpey’s shares jumped 1.85 per cent or 9.7p to 501.70p.
Persimmon shares jumped 3.39 per cent or 48.50p to 1,480.50p, shares in Berkeley Group rose 1.31 per cent or 62.00p to 4,786.00p. Vistry shares are up 3.15 per cent or 39.72p to 1,298.72p.
The Labour party put housing development and planning reform at the centre of its 142-page manifesto.
The party has vowed to build 1.5million homes within five years and oversee the biggest boost in affordable housing for a generation.
On the up: Housebuilder shares rose on Friday following Labour’s victory in the general election
Prior to the election win, Labour announced it would unveil a housebuilding plan within days of winning the election.
Supposedly poor-quality areas of green belt could be reclassified as ‘grey belt’, with spaces like car parks, former tips and scrubland all viewed as viable development sites.
Labour has dubbed the housing crisis as one of Britain’s biggest barriers to growth.
It wants to hire around 300 new planning officials and block local authorities from ‘stonewalling’ proposed developments in ‘grey-belt’ sites.
A vast increase in the number of homes being built and loosening planning rules spells good news for housebuilders, who for many years have also benefited from government Help to Buy schemes.
Rising: Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey and Barratt shares all rose on Friday
Speaking to This is Money, Jennie Daly, chief executive of Taylor Wimpey, said: Housing delivery has a vital role to play in our society and in unlocking economic growth across the UK through investment, not just into much needed energy efficient new homes, but in the associated investment in community infrastructure such as schools and amenities, and local transport infrastructure.
‘A decade-long problem of under-resourcing in the planning system and lack of ambition at all political levels has driven a rapid decline in both new housing development and planning consents across the country, and so we welcome the Labour Party’s long-standing focus on the reform of planning policy and look forward to working closely with them to enable the delivery of critical new housing.’
Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: ‘One sector which most agree will see some benefit from the new political regime is housebuilding, which has seen some recent strength on hopes of reforms, less red tape in terms of planning and more supply.
‘In early trade, the likes of Persimmon, Vistry Group, Taylor Wimpey and Barratt Developments all rallied on improved prospects which are also being driven by the possibility of an interest rate cut later in the year.’
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