Editor's note: This brief was summarised by The Property AI Newsroom from a report by Property Industry Eye. Read the original article for full details.

Major UK Housebuilders Face £4.5bn Class Action Over New-Build Prices

A proposed class action worth up to £4.5 billion is being brought against several of Britain’s largest housebuilders. The claim alleges that hundreds of thousands of homebuyers paid inflated prices for new-build homes due to alleged anti-competitive behaviour.

The action is set to be filed with the Competition Appeal Tribunal by Mark McLaren, a former parliamentary and legal affairs manager at consumer group Which?. The claim targets Barratt, Redrow, Bellway, Berkeley Group, Bloor Homes, Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey, Vistry Group, and its Countryside Partnerships division.

The proposed class action is being pursued on behalf of more than 700,000 people who purchased new-build homes in Great Britain between October 2015 and 24 June 2026. The claim follows an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) into allegations that major housebuilders exchanged commercially sensitive information over a two-year period ending in February 2024.

The CMA closed its investigation after the companies agreed to pay £100 million towards affordable housing programmes and accepted legally binding commitments not to share commercially sensitive information in the future.

McLaren’s claim alleges that the exchange of information reduced competition between the firms, resulting in consumers paying more than they should have for new-build properties. The claim argues that the impact on house prices stretches back to October 2015.

Represented by competition law firms Geradin Partners and Hausfeld, McLaren estimates that affected homeowners could each be entitled to between £3,100 and £6,200 in compensation, giving the claim a potential total value of between £2.2 billion and £4.5 billion.

This case is of particular relevance to UK letting agents and inventory clerks, as it concerns the pricing of new-build homes and the practices of major developers in the residential property market.