Housebuilder Barratt's boss David Thomas awarded pay rise

Housebuilder giant Barratt Development’s boss saw the amount he pocketed last year swell to £3.6 million, a new report showed on Tuesday.

The FTSE 100 developer’s David Thomas was given the package in the 12 months to June 2019. It largely comprises salary, bonuses and pension benefits, and was up from £2.7 million a year earlier.

Barratt’s annual report also said Thomas’s basic salary will rise to £757,000 in the current year, up from £739,000.

Thomas and rival bosses have benefited from the government’s help to buy model, which some critics claim has pumped up builders’ profits and house prices.

Barratt’s report said: “The housing market remains stable and customer demand for new build homes continues to be strong. The positive lending environment and the Government’s support for help to buy underpins this demand. Mortgage rates remain at historic lows, and there is an increasing number of high-LTV mortgage products available. This has eased affordability pressures and created more routes into home ownership, which remains the tenure of choice for the vast majority of people."

Barratt sold 17,856 homes in the year to June- its biggest annual number of transactions in 11 years.