Barratt Developments, a leading home builder in the UK, has said that it expects its sales to rise 71 per cent to nearly £1.3 billion in the first half of its financial year.

The company also said that it is optimistic of strong performance in the second half of the year.  The company, which recently announced 780 new homes across the west of Scotland, has benefitted from price rises and increased sales in the country.  The country's housing sector has recorded growth due to supportive schemes from the government.  Demand for housing units remained much higher than availability and this pushed up prices across the UK including in southern England.

A survey from Hometrack showed that housing prices have increased in England and Wales by around 4.4 per cent during the year, 2013.  The data also showed that the housing prices rise the highest at around 9 per cent in London during the good year for the housing market backed by support schemes from the government and increasing demand.

Mark Clare, the chief executive of Barratt Developments said, "The sales rates we are getting are not that dissimilar to where we were before the downturn.  Normally, we see sales rates fall off in mid-November but there were still people shopping and buying in mid-December."