Three housing firms are among Britain's best performing construction companies, according to the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB).

New research has shown Barratt Developments, Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon have risen into the top ten constructions firms.

CITB said the revelation has been taken as a sign of the house-building sector's continued recovery since the 2007 crash.

The data, compiled by Barbour ABI, shows that the house-builders are among the strongest-performing UK construction firms in terms of revenue.


Other firms that appear on the list include Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Laing O'Rourke, Interserve, Kier, Amery and Mitie.

In an alternative ranking ordered by pre-tax profits, Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey and Barratt appear in the top five.

In recent years, the new house-building sector has jumped 42.7% since 2010.

In addition, last week Berkeley Group joined Barratt and Taylor Wimpey in the FTSE 100, the share index of the most valuable firms on the London Stock Exchange.

The CITB said the industry has been spurred on by a range of factors, including low interest rates, an overhaul of the planning systems and schemes such as Help to Buy.

Rob Perrins, Berkeley's managing director, has said that the rise of the house-builders into the FTSE 100 shows that the sector is in a strong position.

He added that he would now like to see more developers join the FTSE 250, which is made up of the top 250 companies on the stock market

(LM/MH)