Housing Inquiry averted after housebuilders offer government £100m for affordable homes

AN investigation into allegations of market and competition collusion by seven of the nation's biggest housebuilding companies has been dropped by the Government's competition watchdog after the developers offered to pay £100 million into the nation's affordable housing subsidy pot.

- Tristan CORK

A possible inquiry looking into claims that major housebuilding firms were colluding to control the supply and prices of homes will not go ahead, the Competition and Markets Authority has said

(By Gareth Fuller PA)

The seven firms, who are responsible for most of the new-build developments in and around Bristol, denied they had broken the law but offered to make the financial contribution alongside making 'commitments' not to share information about their business which each other.

The Competition and MarketsAuthority (CMA) began investigating last year after a report found housebuilders were holding back building new homes to restrict supply to keep the prices of new homes up. The report also triggered the investigation into whether the seven big developers were allegedly illegally sharing information about demand for new homes, sales, prices, special deals and information about the kind of people buying new-build homes.

The CMA began investigating because such sharing is potentially illegal, and could mean the housebuilders were colluding to keep prices high and slow down the pace of housebuilding.

In the summer, the