Barratt hails £250m-plus injection to Scots economy

Housebuilder Barratt Developments’ Scottish operations have delivered a £256 million boost to the economy over the past year, marking a double-digit hike on 2018.

During the year, the group, which encompasses the Barratt and David Wilson Homes brands, built 1,862 homes in Scotland, up from 1,729. Its activities also supported 4,132 jobs, up from about 3,700 a year earlier.

The £256m boost to the economy over the last year is £29m up on the previous 12 months – an increase of almost 13 per cent.

Barratt’s annual socio-economic footprint study was carried out by planning consultancy Nathaniel Lichfield & Partners (NLP).

As part of its housebuilding activity, the group made £15.9m in local contributions to help build community facilities and infrastructure in areas surrounding its new developments – more than double the figure from last year. The latest contribution includes the provision of 706 additional school places, Barratt noted.

Included within the report are key measures relating to the company’s support for the housebuilding supply chain, local communities, environment, public services and employment.

The study also reveals that Barratt’s Scottish operations directly employed 50 new graduates, trainees and apprentices during the year, while supporting 740 sub-contractor companies and 660 supplier businesses.

Trees

More than 44,000 trees and shrubs were planted or retained on the company’s developments.

Douglas McLeod, regional managing director for Scotland, Barratt Developments, said: “The past year has seen us step up our housebuilding activity in Scotland.

“Not only have we built more homes, invested in more jobs, and increased our local contributions, but we have done so at a time when many other businesses have pressed pause on activity due to political and economic headwinds.

“For us, it’s very simple. Demand for new homes continues to outstrip supply and we have a major role to play in ensuring that the Scottish housing market attempts to keep pace.

“Not only that, but we have a responsibility to build top quality homes in communities where people want to live, and to further invest in those communities,” he added.

Earlier this month, Barratt announced that it had acquired 16 new plots in Scotland, amid strong demand from home-buyers.

During the first nine months of the year, the group acquired sites as far north as Inverness down to the Central Belt. The 16 sites will provide 2,644 new homes and include developments in Edinburgh, Elgin, Inverness, Kilmarnock, Livingston, Wallyford and West Calder.

The group said at the time that it hoped to have acquired a further four sites north of the Border, providing an additional 1,165 homes, by the end of the year.