Barratt Developments

Barratt Developments plc

Formerly	Barratt Developments Limited (1958–1981)[1]
Company type	Public limited company
Traded as	LSE: BDEV FTSE 100 Component
Industry	Housebuilding
Founded	May 14, 1958; 66 years ago (1958-05-14)
Headquarters	Coalville, England, UK
Key people	Caroline Silver (Chairwoman) David Thomas (CEO)[2]
Revenue	£4,168.2 million (2024)[3]
Operating income	£174.7 million (2024)[3]
Net income	£114.1 million (2024)[3]
Number of employees	6,451 (2024)[3]
Website	www.barrattdevelopments.co.uk

Barratt Developments plc is one of the largest residential property development companies in the United Kingdom operating across England, Wales and Scotland. As of September 2024^[update], it is the second largest housebuilder in the UK and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It was originally based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, but is presently located at David Wilson's former offices in Coalville, England.

Barratt was originally founded in 1958 by Lewis Greensitt and Sir Lawrie Barratt as Greensitt Bros. to build houses. During 1968, the company, which had by then been renamed Greensitt & Barratt, was floated on the London Stock Exchange. Following Lewis Greensitt's departure, the company was rebranded as Barratt Developments. It grew rapidly during the 1970s, largely due to a spree of acquisitions. By June 1983, Barratt was the largest housebuilder in the country, selling a record 16,500 houses over the prior 12 months.^[4] Sales more than halved during the mid 1980s, a trend that was partly attributed to public criticism of Barratt's practices in two successive ITV World in Action programmes. In response, Barratt was heavily restructured, abandoned timber-framed construction in favour of a new product range, and de-emphasised its starter homes activities.

While the company has almost exclusively focused on the British market, the overseas subsidiary Barratt American was established in the 1980s; it was eventually sold on via a management buyout in 2004. Barratt Developments was heavily impacted by the early 1990s recession, compelling Lawrie Barratt to return to active management and house production to be increased. During 2007, Barratt made its first acquisition in almost 30 years, purchasing Wilson Bowden for £2.7 billion, which enabled Barrett to become the biggest homebuilder in Britain once again. Amid the economic effects of the Great Recession, the firm had to write-off nearly £600 million along with 700 job losses and restructure its finances. During 2012, Barratt Residential Asset Management was established to provide property management services on a non-profit basis across Barratt London developments; it was acquired by FirstPort seven years later. On 7 February 2024, the company made an agreed offer to acquire rival homebuilder Redrow for £2.5 billion.