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David Pretty, who has worked at the housebuilder for 27 years, will remain on the board of the company for three months after he leaves to oversee the handover.

He plans to become involved with a number of charities once he retires properly.

The disclosure of his retirement plans came as Pretty was overseeing Barratt鈥檚 final year results. It announced an order book of 拢1.14bn for the 12 months to 30 June, up from 拢900m the previous year.

Underlying pre-tax profit grew 3.4% to 拢378.4m. However, headline pre-tax profit dipped 0.7% to 拢391.4m from 拢394.3m in 2005 when it was boosted by the 拢15.9m from the disposal of freehold ground rents. Group turnover also dipped, down 2.1% to 拢2.43bn.

Pretty said: 鈥淒espite the competitive market place we have delivered improved margins and increased completions. We had a robust performance last year and we are well placed for the future.鈥�

The housebuilding profit margin increased to 16.7%, up from 16%, and completions rose to 14,601, from 14,351.

Pretty added that the company鈥檚 exposure to the social housing market had helped to offset tough trading conditions in the residential market.

Charles Toner, the chairman, said Barratt had posted its 14th consecutive year of organic growth and this reflected the success of its company strategy.

Pretty has spent 27 years at Barratt, 16 of them as a board member. He said setting up Barratt in London was one of the highlights of his career.

He will be replaced as chief executive by Mark Clare, who is managing director of Centrica鈥檚 British Gas residential energy business.