Kent building firms today welcomed a report which cleared the industry of hoarding land to boost profit.

The Office of Fair Trading published a market study into the homebuilding sector which said there was no evidence that they were hoarding potential development land for anti-competitive reasons.

John Fingleton, OFT chief executive, said: "The study found no evidence that homebuilders have the ability to anti-competitively hoard land or withhold a large amount of land with planning permission on which they have not started to build.

"Instead 'landbanking' reflects the need for firms to have a pipeline of land at different stages in the development process."

Mike Tatham, managing director of Mereworth-based Tatham Homes said: "We welcome this finding absolutely. The problem if you don't have at least two to three years landbank is that you get no continuity of work. The reason being is that the planning processes and the legal processes take far too long.

"If you don't start buying now for three years time you don't have any work. People don't realise how long the planning process takes."

The OFT report also said the sector was broadly competitive, but said buyers of new homes would get more help if they suffer delays moving into their property or find faults.

The industry has agreed to develop its own code of conduct and redress scheme for consumers.

Stewart Baseley, executive chairman of the Home Builders Federation said "After months of probing, the OFT's report is a real boost for the industry. It is a credit to home builders that following such an in-depth examination they have received such a clean bill of health. In such challenging times for the whole industry, the findings are very welcome. "