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UK's largest homebuilder Barratt Developments refrained from providing a full-year profit forecast on Wednesday, citing an "uncertain" outlook on the back of a challenging mortgage market, although it reaffirmed its annual home-building targets.
Barratt's warning comes at a time when affordability woes, stoked by expensive mortgages and a prolonged cost-of-living squeeze, have pummelled demand in the UK housing sector.
"The trading environment remains difficult, with potential homebuyers still facing mortgage challenges," CEO David Thomas said in a trading statement.
Barratt said it will focus on driving revenue through multi-unit sales to the private rental and affordable housing sectors, besides doling out incentives to customers to boost demand.
Net private bookings per average week fell to 169 units between July 1 and Oct. 8, lower than 188 homes in the year-ago period, the FTSE 100-listed company said, but reiterated its annual build target of 13,250 to 14,250 homes.
(Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)