A legal claim has been filed with the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) on behalf of more than 700,000 people who brought a new build home in Great Britain between October 2015 and 24 June 2026.
The claim alleges they exchanged competitively sensitive information and that this led to them charging higher prices for new-build homes.
It has been launched against the UK’s largest house builders including Barratt Redrow, Bellway, Redrow, The Berkeley Group, Bloor Homes, Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey, Vistry Group and Countryside Partnerships.
The claim will be brought by consumer champion Mark McLaren on behalf of all potentially affected homeowners and is represented by competition law firms Hausfeld and Geradin Partners, acting as co-counsel.
The value of compensation sought is estimated at between £2.2bn and £4.5bn, equivalent to between £3,100 and £6,200 for each affected homeowner.
The latest claim follows an Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) investigation that looked at the conduct of housebuilders between January 2022 and February 2024.
This resulted in the companies accepting binding commitments in October 2025 to address the CMA’s concerns.
The commitments included agreements by the housebuilders not to share certain types of sensitive commercial information in future, alongside enhanced compliance measures and a £100 million contribution towards affordable housing initiatives.
It alleges that the impact of information sharing may have extended well before 2022 and seeks compensation for homeowners allegedly affected from October 2015 onwards.
The proposed class representative Mark McLaren says: “Buying a home is one of the biggest financial commitments most of us will make. If, as seems to be the case, housebuilders shared sensitive pricing and sales information with one another instead of competing properly, homeowners across Great Britain may well have been left out of pocket as a result. This claim is about standing up for those buyers and ensuring that compensation is delivered to those who deserve it.”
Also commenting, Hausfeld partner Scott Campbell states: “For most homeowners, bringing an individual claim simply isn’t realistic, as the cost and complexity put it out of reach. That’s why this collective action is so important. It provides a practical route for hundreds of thousands of consumers to seek compensation where they may otherwise have had no way of doing so.”
Meanwhile, Geradin Partners partner Patrick Teague adds: “We are pleased to have been instructed by Mark McLaren to bring these proceedings, together with our co-counsel at Hausfeld.”
“The claim raises important issues about competition in the new-build housing market, and we look forward to assisting the Tribunal in determining those issues and, if the claim succeeds, securing compensation for affected homeowners.”
The Home Builders Federation were asked to comment but so far are yet to reply.
