Homebuilder Berkeley says forward sales are past £1.5bn As a result, the company said it was already on track to meet City profit forecasts for the current financial year which ends April 2014, as well as to return £568m in cash to shareholders by the end of this month, as already flagged. Berkeley, which focuses on London, said has added three sites to its land bank over the period: a 10-acre redevelopment site in White City, a site in Battersea with planning consent for 456 apartments and a scheme in West Sussex with consent for 69 new homes. While housebuilders are enjoying rising margins and profits as state measures to boost the housing market accelerate their recovery from the housing crash, there are concerns that without a major rise in the supply of new homes coming on to the market a house price bubble could be forming. Planning remains a hurdle to the industry being able to increase substantially the supply of new homes, Berkeley's chairman Tony Pidgely warned. "Planning remains complex and obtaining planning consents involves consulting widely with multiple stakeholders," he said. This causes delays to planning decisions and an inconsistency of approach at a local level, despite the National Planning Policy Framework and the presumption in favour of sustainable development. Nonetheless, Berkeley has said that its move to return money to investors reflects the company's comfort with its size - believing that a bigger group would not be better run. The shares were trading up 3pc at £21.87p by late morning on Monday.