Following the government's latest announcement that housing market transactions in England can take place again, Barratt Developments, the country's largest housebuilder, will re-open its doors to customers on an appointment only basis from Thursday 21 May.

This move follows a phased restart of its construction sites this week with around 180 sites in England and Wales reopening – 50% of the total – with more planned to restart from the 25 May. 

Locally, Barratt Homes West Midlands will be reopening Dunstall Park in Tamworth and Deer's Rise in Cannock while David Wilson Homes Mercia will be reopening The Village at Wedgwood Park and The Oaks at Wedgwood Park in Barlaston. 

The government announced this week that it had amended regulations to allow people to move home, with 450,000 people having put their plans on hold. Barratt has spent the last few weeks carefully designing revised protocols and procedures so that it would be ready to open its doors when given the green light.

To enable customers to visit sales centres and show homes, a range of safety measures and new working procedures which meet or exceed government, industry and public health agency advice have been put in place. These include protective Perspex screens, retractable barriers, strict social distancing and, where necessary, personal protective equipment (PPE), plus intercom systems to enable customers to engage with sales teams before entering offices.

Customers will initially only be able to visit the sales centres and carry out physical viewings by appointment with one household visiting one property at a time.

Barratt has also signed up to the new government and industry Charter for Safe Working Practice – Covid-19, which supports best practice being adopted across the industry. 

David Thomas, chief executive of Barratt Developments, said: “We back the government's decision to unlock the property market which will help to drive the country's economic recovery. We are doing this safely with clear measures in place that protect our customers and employees. We will be carefully re-opening our sales offices from next week.”

New buyers should contact their local sales office for more detail on specific developments and visit the Barratt and David Wilson Homes websites to book an appointment. For more information visit www.barratthomes.co.uk  or www.dwh.co.uk

ENDS

Note to editors:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/housing-secretary-sets-out-plan-to-re-start-housing-market

2. For further information about Barratt and David Wilson Homes please contact Alice Warner 0116 247 1777 or alice@unsworthsugden.co.uk  
3. Barratt and David Wilson Homes is part of Barratt Developments PLC, a FTSE100 company 
   
4. Barratt Group sold 17,856 homes in the year to June 2019, making it the biggest housebuilder by volume in Britain 
5. Barratt was awarded a maximum five star rating for the 11th consecutive year in the 2020 Home Builders Federation Customer Satisfaction Survey 
6. Site managers working for Barratt Group won 84 awards for quality workmanship in the 2019 NHBC Pride in the Job Awards. Barratt has won more Pride in the Job awards than any other housebuilder for the last 15 years