The move will see current chair Michael Dobson step down after the firm’s AGM in September, handing over to Perrins who has served as chief executive since 2009.

Dobson’s departure caps a pivotal three-year stint, during which he oversaw the launch of Berkeley’s 10-year “Berkeley 2035” strategy.

Berkeley’s long-serving CFO Richard Stearn will step up as chief executive following Perrins’ transition, with a new finance chief expected to be promoted from within the ranks.

The board said the appointment of Perrins as executive chair offers “continuity in leadership” at a time of increasing complexity in the regulatory and political landscape.

This morning the London house builder also said it had shrugged off market volatility to deliver a £529m pre-tax profit last year, down 5% on the prior year.

Its operating margin improved from 19.5% to 20.1% as it delivered 4,300 homes during the year.

The firm said it had locked in over 75% of forecast sales for new year ahead.

Perrins said” “Berkeley is determined to play a full part in helping Government meet its growth ambitions and has been greatly encouraged by the tone set by the brownfield-led housing agenda. 

“Converting this into delivery is challenging particularly as it comes after a period of extreme cost inflation and complex regulatory change. 

“We continue to work with both the MHCLG and the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) to resolve the ongoing process issues encountered at Gateway 2 which, if left unresolved, would lower industry-wide delivery over the medium-term.”

He added: “We have a clear plan for the next 10 years and are ready to invest £5bn of capital into new sites and our new BTR platform, which will deliver at least 4,000 additional homes over this period.”

Berkeley ended the year with net cash of £337m, down from £532m after heavy investment and shareholder returns.