UK's Barratt Redrow flags slower bookings after 12% decline in home completions

Nov 4 (Reuters) - British homebuilder Barratt Redrow on Wednesday posted a 12% fall in home completions and pointed to slower bookings by individual buyers in the 17 weeks to October 25, as elevated mortgage and interest rates weighed on demand.

Higher rates have exacerbated a slowdown in the UK housing sector by weakening buyer demand at a time when elevated energy and construction costs due to the Iran war are already piling pressure on homebuilders.

While the government's "Your First Home" scheme, unveiled in September, had initially raised hopes of reviving some demand, investors were disappointed by details released in last month's budget due to the delayed rollout, limited funding and developer fees.

"Whilst we welcome the introduction of ‘Your First Home’ to support housing delivery over time, it is too early to assess its impact on first-time buyer activity in FY27," the company said in a statement.

Its total home completions, including joint ventures (JVs), fell to 3,223 units. The underlying private reservation rate per week excluding JVs, an indicator of near-term demand, slowed to 0.53 from 0.57 a year earlier.

(Reporting by Simone Lobo and Shashwat Awasthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)