Legacy building defects return to haunt Barratt Redrow

Aaron Morby 7 hours ago
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Barratt Redrow has been stung with a fresh £248m charge after uncovering major legacy building safety defects across several developments following its mega-merger.

CEO David Thomas said he is committed to recovering legacy building costs from third parties following landmark court ruling on supply chain responsibilities for building defects
CEO David Thomas said he is committed to recovering legacy building costs from third parties following landmark court ruling on supply chain responsibilities for building defects

The house building giant flagged the extra shock charges in a trading update ahead of full-year results in September.

The charges overshadowed a solid performance in the year to June, with adjusted pre-tax profits expected to land in line with forecasts despite fewer completions in London caused by weak investor demand.

The group flagged an extra £98m hit in the second half of the year for external wall systems, including £80m to fix fire safety issues at a Southern region development completed in 2002 and £18m at a large London scheme already under review.

These costs were on top of a £150m of extra legacy liabilities baked into the Redrow acquisition balance sheet linked to reinforced concrete frame defects at five Redrow London developments, triggering a goodwill adjustment of £106m.

Barratt Redrow is now facing remedial works at up to five Redrow schemes in the capital following the full portfolio review.

In the year-end trading statement boss David Thomas vowed he was committed to proactively recovering costs from third parties, and hailed May’s Supreme Court ruling that confirmed wider supply chain responsibility for building defects.

Despite the heavy charges, he said that integration with Redrow was progressing ahead of plan.

Around £69m of cost synergies have already been locked in, with £15m feeding into FY25 earnings and another £45m expected to flow in FY26.

The total adjusting items bill for FY25 stands at £229m, including £66m for restructuring, £36m in Redrow deal fees and a £29m provision for the group’s share of the CMA’s £100m industry-wide affordable housing settlement.

Total home completions (including JVs) reduced by 7.8% to 16,565 over the year from the aggregated comparable of 17,972 in the prior year

The group ended the year with net cash of £772m and forward sales of £2.92bn, covering 9,835 homes.

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