Purple Bricks give UK housing market gloomy forecast

Purple Bricks has reported that trading has worsened.

It said client instructions had not increased as was thought in recent months and that this will bring down revenues and earnings this year.

The online company reported that it was in trouble in February this year and put itself up for sale. It said at the time it was necessary because efforts to cut costs had “involved more disruption to the sales field than originally envisaged.”

The action by Purple Bricks has seen sharp falls in its share prices as it fights for survival.

Meanwhile, the UK driveway and roofing firm, Marshalls also reported that like-for-like sales had fallen by 14 per cent to £227m in the four months leading up to April 30.

Marshall’s now expects their full-year tax profits to come in at a little below analyst’s expectations of £83m which is £7m less than last year’s adjusted profit of £90m.

This news triggered a drop in share prices for Marshall’s and in housebuilders such as the Berkeley Group, Barratt and Persimmon.

As borrowing costs have increased in the last six months, the housing market has slowed. The volatility in the housing market was caused last September by the mini-budget set by Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng.

Meanwhile, Purple Bricks has said that negotiations for the sale of the business are ongoing, but any deal would “deliver returns to shareholders materially below the company’s current share price.”