With Barratt Developments’ acquisition of Redrow now complete after receiving final clearance from the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) earlier this month, the merger of the two major housebuilding businesses is now underway, and that looks set to lead to significant job cuts.

It is thought 400 to 500 workers are impacted by the five closures so far, with back office and central support roles affected, although final numbers are subject to the consultation.

As part of a £90m cost-saving drive, a further four divisional offices across the country will be closed, subject to staff consultation, and the newly combined business re-aligned across 32 divisions. This is expected to save £33m in running costs. But around 10% of the 8,300-strong combined workforce, or about 800 jobs, are expected to go.

Procurement related savings are targeted at £34m with supplier contracts renegotiated, while consolidation of duplicated central and support functions are expected to save £23m.

With the inclusion of Redrow’s order book, Barratt Redrow expects to deliver total home completions of between 16,600 and 17,200 in the 2025 financial year.

In a trading update, chief executive David Thomas said: “Whilst customer demand continues to be sensitive to the wider economy, we are beginning to see more stable market conditions with increased mortgage availability and affordability. It will take some time for customer confidence to fully recover from the macroeconomic headwinds faced over the past two years, but we are encouraged by the solid trading we have experienced over recent weeks.

“This is an exciting new chapter for our business. Barratt Redrow is uniquely well-positioned to meet the need for new homes of all tenures across the country. We have superior scale, with a differentiated multi brand offering that can be deployed across our strong combined land portfolio. We begin this journey with a strong balance sheet, a solid forward sales position and the ability to add significant value through cost and revenue synergies. We look forward with confidence to delivering a smooth and efficient integration process, and to capturing the enhanced growth opportunities ahead of us.”