Source: BBC News Company news Barratt Developments ( LON:BDEV, 498.00p) – Buy The UK housebuilder yesterday issued a trading update in respect of the six months ended 31 December 2016 ahead of publication of its interim results on 22 February 2017. Management confirmed overall market conditions are healthy with strong demand in the period for new homes. It recorded a sales rate of 0.68 (2015: 0.66) net private reservations per active outlet per week with completions outside of London at their highest level for nine years, offset by lower activity in London primarily reflecting the planned HY1/HY2 build programme on wholly owned sites, resulting in Total completions for the period (including joint ventures) of 7,180 (2015: 7,626).