House builder Persimmon has seen a dip in profits after complaints about the quality of its homes.

The FTSE 100 company lost £7 million for the six months to June.

It reported a pre-tax profit of £509.3 million – down from £516.3 million.

Total group revenue was 4.5% lower at £1.75 billion.

The number of new homes sold dipped to 7,584 compared with 8,072 this time last year.

Persimmon has been heavily criticised after handing out fat bonuses to executives, despite poor customer satisfaction ratings.

Dave Jenkinson, chief executive, said the latest figures showed the company had made progress.

He said: “Improving the quality and service delivered to our customers remains our top priority and I am encouraged with the progress made in the first half, which clearly shows that Persimmon is changing.

“Our customer satisfaction ratings for the current HBF survey year are showing improvement and I am particularly pleased that, in July, Persimmon became the first house-builder to introduce a retention scheme for customers, placing us at the forefront of strengthened consumer rights for home-buyers.”

Persimmon’s former chief executive Jeff Fairburn picked up a £110 million bonus in 2018 – described as “obscene” and “corporate looting”.

Meanwhile, Persimmon new builds regularly scored a one-star rating on feedback forums.