<p>Barratt's completions in the six months to the end of 2016 were overall down on the previous year - although this was driven by a fall in London, with completions outside the capital the highest for nine years.</p> <p>In all the firm completed 7,180 homes in the period (2015: 7,626), but completions outside of London stood at 6,813 compared to 6,784 the previous year.</p> <p>Pre-tax profit for the period is expected to be £315 million, around 7% higher than the same period in 2015 and total forward sales are up 15.8% year on year.</p> <p>The firm launched 83 new developments in the period against 63 last year and operated from an average 374 outlets (386). Total average selling price increased by 3.9% to around £264,000 with private ASP up 5.3% to around £296,000.</p> <p>Barratt ceo David Thomas said: "This has been another good half year for the group. Consumer demand is strong, benefiting from good mortgage availability and ongoing government support. Our healthy forward order book and this strong demand leaves us on track to deliver on our volume guidance for the full year. Our focus remains on maintaining good operational and financial performance, and delivering attractive shareholder returns. The …