Major house builders probed by CMA face class action lawsuit

This includes a combined £100m affordable housing payment which will be split between government schemes in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

House builders put forward the package of pledges to address the CMA’s competition concerns, on the basis that the watchdog would discontinue its investigation. 

The CMA has not made a ruling on whether there was an infringement of competition law and the developers’ offer does not constitute an admission of any wrongdoing.

However, Mr McLaren said: “Homebuyers should be confident that the housing market is transparent and competitive so that they pay a fair price for their new home, not an inflated one.

“The CMA identified serious concerns about information-sharing between major house builders.

“That is why I am bringing this claim, which looks to ensure that UK homebuyers obtain compensation for harm suffered as a result of the house builders’ anti-competitive conduct.”

All seven of the firms were contacted for a response to the new lawsuit. Vistry said it was looking into the case and referred Inside Housing back to the earlier CMA decision, which “clearly states that the settlement was made without any admission of liability by the developers”.

Patrick Teague, partner at Geradin Partners, said: “The CMA’s findings describe frequent exchanges of competitively sensitive information relating to achieved prices, incentives and sales and reservation activity.

“This is the type of conduct that can distort competition and harm consumers.

“We look forward to supporting Mark in bringing this claim on behalf of UK homebuyers.”

Scott Campbell, partner at Hausfeld, said: “This is a significant proposed collective claim concerning alleged anti-competitive conduct in the new build housing market.

“We are pleased to be acting as co-counsel alongside Geradin Partners and to bringing to the table our expertise in collective actions as well as cartel litigation.

“With Burford Capital providing funding and with a highly experienced counsel and expert team in place, we are perfectly placed to help bring this claim.”