<p>Barratt has seen a “positive” and <span>sustained start</span> to its new financial year, with the business <span>remaining </span>set to deliver on its targets, it said today (October 13).</p> <p>The volume housebuilder’s trading update for the period from July 1 to October 10 reflects a slowing down in completions and reservations compared to the busy equivalent period of last year. But Barratt said trading levels were encouragingly strong, given the ending of the stamp duty holiday and “significantly” reduced completions under Help to Buy.</p> <p>It delivered 3,699 homes, 8.3% below the comparable period in FY2021 when the business saw a “significant increase in home completions after the disruption created by the initial national lockdown”. This compares to the 3,252 completions of the equivalent period in FY2020. (Barratt’s current year end is June 30 2022).</p> <p>Its net private reservations per site per <span>average</span> week were 2.3% down on the previous year at 0.85. Barratt noted the “particularly active” period of last year, also including increased reservations in response to the tapering of Help to Buy in December 2020. Its reservations were 18.1% ahead of the “more relevant comparative period in FY20”. </p> <p>In the year to date, 21% of Barratt’s private reservations …