Barratt's Putney penthouses up for sale at £1 million each

Housebuilder Barratt Developments underlined the strength of the London property market today, as it put a trio of luxury penthouses up for sale in Putney which are expected to fetch around £1 million each.

The sales, part of Barratt's Putney Square development, will be the first time the firm has marketed flats outside Zone 1 for more than £1000 per sq ft.

Barratt, which sold 1288 homes in the capital in the year to June, expects to deliver more than 5000 homes in the capital over the next five years through further developments, including Horseferry Road in Westminster and Osiers Road in Battersea.

Joint ventures with housing associations such as London & Quadrant will also boost its London presence.

Conditions are still much tougher outside the capital, but chief executive Mark Clare expects the group to post its first annual profit in three years.

The builder flirted with disaster in the housing collapse after its ill-timed £2.2 billion acquisition of Wilson Bowden in 2007, but the firm has since reduced debts to £330 million.

Barratt is unlikely to rejoin other recovering builders with a return to the dividend list imminently.

"We still have some way to go before we start talking about dividends," Clare added.