9 hours ago
5
Tom Espiner
BBC business reporter
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Britain's biggest housebuilders have agreed to pay £100m towards affordable homes to avoid a regulator's decision on whether they broke competition law.
The seven firms have also agreed not to share commercially sensitive information such as how much houses have sold for "except in limited circumstances".
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) last year began investigating whether housebuilders had been swapping information, such as pricing and the incentives offered to buyers such as upgraded kitchens or stamp duty contributions.
The watchdog said if it accepts the firms' offer it will mean "that it is not necessary for the CMA to decide whether the housebuilders broke competition law".
It added that the housebuilders "do not admit any liability or wrongdoing for the conduct subject to investigation".
The companies investigated by the CMA are Barratt, Redrow, Bellway, The Berkeley Group, Bloor Homes Limited, Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey and Vistry Group.
The CMA declined to comment on whether the firms had shared commercially sensitive information such as sale prices with each other, potentially breaking the law.
"We don't have to reach a conclusion in this case that there has been an infringement," CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
"The reason for that is that our focus is making sure this market is working competitively going forward."
