It’s a case of damage limitation for London’s housebuilders, rather than keeping the storm out altogether. Another overshoot in the monthly inflation reading puts mortgage borrowers in line for more pain, to be shared by the throw-them-up and sell-them-fast homebuilders.
For Berkeley, a recognition that ratesetters will need to be more aggressive than anticipated has caused sales rates to fall by 20 per cent in recent weeks, worse than the 15 per cent annual decline over the 12 months to the end of April.
But the roof is by no means falling in for the FTSE 100 group. Even projecting the 20 per cent decline in sales volumes to the rest of the financial year, pre-tax profit guidance for this year and the next has
