The new government’s “change in tone” on housebuilding has already resulted in an improvement to builders’ experiences of the planning system, according to Berkeley.

In its interim results for the six months to 31 October, the firm, which specialises in the London and South-east markets, said it had “already experienced notable traction in the planning system in recent weeks”, which it attributed to the changed rhetoric from the government since the election.

“While short-term risks remain prevalent, we are optimistic that we are close to the point of inflection when conditions become far more supportive of increased investment and growth,” it said.

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Berkeley said it expects to make pre-tax profit this year of £525m

Since winning the election in the summer, Labour has published a new draft National Planning Policy Framework, setting out plans to re-introduce mandatory housing targets and free up more green belt land for development.

It has also pledged to strengthen presumptions in favour of sustainable development, fund additional planning officers and bring in new planning powers for combined authorities. Keir Starmer in a speech yesterday described the current planning system as a “blockage in our economy that is so big it obscures an entire future”.

Berkeley’s revenue for the period stood at £1.28bn, up 7.3% from £1.19bn, while pre-tax profit was down 7.7% from £298m to £275m.

Rob Perrins, chief executive, said the firm remained on track to achieve its pre-tax profit guidance of £525m for the full year and at least £450m for FY26, despite “ongoing geopolitical and macroeconomic volatility”.

“There is good underlying demand for our homes but transaction volumes remain around a third lower than FY23,” he added. 

“Whilst we have seen a slight uptick in recent weeks, a meaningful recovery will require a sustained improvement in consumer confidence and stability in the wider macroeconomic environment.”

Perrins said Berkeley was “working closely with all levels of government” to help translate Labour’s housebuilding ambitions into “economically viable planning consents to unlock greater investment and delivery on the ground”, but added that this would “take time”.

The firm delivered a total of 2,280 homes in the period, 2,103 of which were delivered one and 177 in joint venture.

This compared to 1,989, 204 of which were in joint venture, in the same period the year prior.

Berkeley claims to be the only large UK housebuilder to prioritise brownfield and is progressing 32 complex regeneration projects across the country, with 92% of its delivery in the recent period being on brownfield.

The business has identified £7bn of its free cash flow to spend over the next 10 years on a combination of land investment, construction of its build-to-rent platform and returns to shareholders.

>> Read more: Starmer defends ‘too ambitious’ 1.5m homes target

>> Read more: Berkeley to launch 4,000-home build-to-rent management business as annual profit falls

The housebuilder announced its plans to establish a BTR platform, which it expects to build and manage 4,000 homes across 16 sites over the next decade, in June.

Sales market conditions have been “stable” during the period, according to the builder, with pricing ahead of business plan levels and cancellations at “normal rates”. It added that cost inflation in the period was also at “negligible levels”.