The Competition and Markets Authority has extended its investigation into several housebuilders for infringement of competition law
Launched in February last year, the CMA housebuilder investigation has been extended, having not reached a conclusion yet.
The investigation is taking place into seven companies, including Barratt Redrow.
Competitively sensitive information may have changed hands
The nature of the investigation concerns the exchange of sensitive information that can affect competition.
The suspicions were levelled at 8 housebuilders, including Barratt Developments and Redrow, who merged into Barratt Redrow in mid-2024.
The other housebuilders under investigation are:
- Bellway
- The Berkeley Group
- Bloor Homes Limited
- Persimmon
- Taylor Wimpey
- Vistry Group
The investigation was opened in February 2024 and ran until December. However, it has been deemed that there is not sufficient evidence to make a decision one way or the other.
Now the process has been extended throughout January and to May 2025, where it will consider all further evidence and representations.
The CMA housebuilder investigation may be part of a trend
In September, the law firm CMS published a report highlighting a recent intensification of CMA investigations, with an increase in not only investigations, but dawn raids.
Since the Competition Act 1998 was introduced, the CMA has conducted 164 investigations and Competition Appeal Tribunal appeals. 50% resulted in an infringement decision.
However, the stats skew slightly more when looking at construction companies only, showing that 88% of construction investigations have resulted in an infringement decision. Every construction case also saw a dawn raid.
Following the trend of investigations, the CMA also told Barratt-Redrow last year that they should resolve issues that their merging would cause in local competition. In August, they appeared to approve of their resolution, and allowed the merger to take place.
Prior to that, the CMA investigated suspicions of anti-competitive conduct in chemical supplies for construction. This related to chemical admixtures and additives for things like concrete, mortar, and cement.
Further details on how the CMA carries out Competition Act 1998 investigations can be found here
