Housebuilders to pay £100m towards affordable homes to avoid legal decision

Britain's biggest housebuilders have agreed to pay £100m towards affordable homes to avoid a regulator's decision on whether they broke competition law.

The seven firms have also agreed not to share commercially sensitive information such as how much houses have sold for "except in limited circumstances".

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) last year began investigating whether housebuilders had been swapping information, such as pricing and the incentives offered to buyers such as upgraded kitchens or stamp duty contributions.

The watchdog said if it accepts the firms' offer it will mean "that it is not necessary for the CMA to decide whether the housebuilders broke competition law".

It added that the housebuilders "do not admit any liability or wrongdoing for the conduct subject to investigation".

The companies investigated by the CMA are Barratt, Redrow, Bellway, The Berkeley Group, Bloor Homes Limited, Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey and Vistry Group.

The CMA declined to comment on whether the firms had shared commercially sensitive information such as sale prices with each other, potentially breaking the law.

"We don't have to reach a conclusion in this case that there has been an infringement," CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

"The reason for that is that our focus is making sure this market is working competitively going forward."

Asked whether some individuals or housing authorities may have overpaid because of building firms sharing data, Ms Cardell said: "That is part of the reason why we have secured this commitment to a payment of £100m from the companies, and that will go to the people who need it the most.

"It will bring hundreds more affordable homes to the UK market immediately which, by the way, is a much better resolution than a long and complex investigation."

The government has said that it wants regulators to be more pro-growth.

In January, the CMA's chair Marcus Bokkerink was ousted and replaced on an interim basis by Doug Gurr, former boss of Amazon UK.

Ms Cardell told the BBC: "We are committed to tackling anti-competitive behaviour, and that is exactly what we are doing today because we have moved swiftly and effectively to resolve this case with absolute clarity.

"The housebuilders are in no doubt what they need to do to comply with the law."