Wednesday 31 August 2016 12:13 am

Berkeley and housing stocks risk being evicted from FTSE 100 index

Housebuilder Berkeley Group could be booted from the FTSE 100 today after a near 30 per cent slump in its share price so far this year.

Building materials company Travis Perkins is also teetering on the edge of the blue-chip index with shares now down about 12.5 per cent since the UK voted to quit the European Union in June.

Housing stocks have been under the cosh since the Brexit vote due to their sensitivity to the domestic economy.

Yesterday figures from the Bank of England revealed mortgage approvals hit an 18-month low in July piling further pressure on housebuilders.

Last week it was revealed the number of new homes completed fell in the three months to the end of June on the year before, suggesting fears over the outcome of the EU referendum were worrying builders.

Some 34,920 new homes were completed in the three months between the beginning of April and the end of June, two per cent lower than a year ago, according to figures from the Department of Communities and Local Government. However, the figure was seven per cent higher on the previous quarter.

Last month Berkeley chairman, Tony Pidgley, sent shares in the housebuilder higher by buying up another five per cent of the firm's shares for just under £800,000.

Pidgley came out strongly in favour of the UK remaining in the UK earlier this month, saying the outcome of the EU referendum would be "significant for the UK's housebuilding and property sector."

Housebuilders' share prices have took an immediate hit after the UK voted to leave the EU; on the morning after the referendum, shares in Berkeley Group fell 26.9 per cent, while shares in Taylor Wimpey lost a third of their value, and Persimmon's shares fell 27.5 per cent. Barratt's share price fell by a fifth.

The London Stock Exchange will announce its latest quarterly reshuffle after the market close today, with changes taking effect from 19 September.

Analysts at the Share Centre think Intu Properties, Provident Financial, and Dixons Carphone could also be in danger of relegation.

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