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Housebuilders face £4bn lawsuit over price conduct claims
The claim follows a Competition and Markets Authority probe and could pay each affected homeowner £3,100 to £6,200, lawyers said.
- Mark McLaren, a former parliamentary and legal affairs manager at consumer group Which?, is leading a class action seeking up to £4.5 billion in compensation from seven major housebuilders on behalf of over 700,000 homebuyers who purchased new-build properties between October 2015 and June 24 this year.
- The lawsuit follows a Competition and Markets Authority investigation concluding in February 2024 that found signs the firms exchanged pricing, property viewings, and buyer incentives; the CMA dropped further action after the companies agreed to pay £100 million into affordable housing programmes.
- McLaren alleges that if housebuilders shared sensitive pricing and sales information instead of competing properly, homeowners across Great Britain may have been left out of pocket, with each affected buyer potentially due between £3,100 and £6,200 in compensation.
- Before advancing, the Competition Appeal Tribunal must approve the class action, which is represented by competition law firms Geradin Partners and Hausfeld; Scott Campbell, a partner at Hausfeld, noted individual claims are unrealistic due to cost and complexity.
- The claim targets Barratt Redrow, Bellway, The Berkeley Group, Bloor Homes, Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey, and Vistry Group, including its Countryside Partnerships division, distinguishing the lawsuit from the prior CMA settlement which avoided ruling on whether competition law was broken.
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UK housebuilders face potential lawsuit over alleged anti-competitive conduct
Britain's biggest housebuilders, including Barratt Redrow and Taylor Wimpey , are facing a potential multi-billion-pound class action lawsuit over alleged anticompetitive conduct, according to a consumer claim filed on Tuesday.
·New York, United States
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Total News Sources23
Leaning Left2Leaning Right3Center4Last UpdatedBias Distribution45% Center
Bias Distribution
- 45% of the sources are Center
45% Center
L 22%
C 45%
R 33%
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