Seven major housebuilders have agreed to pay £100m in total to affordable homes programmes across the UK, following a Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) investigation into alleged sharing of sensitive business information.

The payment forms part of a proposed “commitments” package which will be used, if accepted by the CMA, as an alternative to an official adjudication on any rule breaking. The alleged information shared by Barratt Redrow, Bellway, Berkeley Group, Bloor Homes, Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey and Vistry included details about sales including pricing, number of property viewings and incentives offered to buyers such as upgraded kitchens or stamp duty contributions.

The £100m is the largest payment secured by the CMA as part of a commitments package, and the body is currently assessing the proposed commitments package, in a consultation will run until 24 July 2025. The CMA said it had “competition concerns,” according to its own documentation, although if the package is accepted by the CMA, it will “not necessary for it to decide whether the housebuilders broke competition law.”

The £100m donation “could fund hundreds of new homes – helping low-income households, first-time buyers and vulnerable people,”  said the CMA. The housebuilders have also “agreed to legally binding commitments which will prevent anticompetitive behaviour and promote industry-wide compliance.”