Berkeley Group saw its share price increase after it was revealed that the chairman of the firm, Tony Pidgley, has purchased a further 5% of the company’s shares for just less than £800,000.

The group presented an official statement that revealed Pidgley had bought a 4.7% stake of 35,061 shares at £22.69 as its share prices dived.

Glyn Barker, a Director of the company, revealed that he bought 3,000 shares at £22.40 (worth around 67,200) for his wife.

After the news, the following morning saw the group’s shares rise by 4.5% before they plunged by more than 9% the following day.

Shares were then temporarily suspended in the FTSE 100 listed housebuilding firm as they triggered the circuit breaker of the London Stock Exchange by falling by more than 8% on their starting price.

Following Britain’s decision to leave the EU, share prices in housebuilding have taken a hit immediately, as witnessed on the morning of the referendum when Berkeley Group shares plummeted by 26.9%, with Taylor Wimpey shares losing a third of their value, while shares in Persimmon went down by 27.5% and share prices in Barratt went down by 20%.

Earlier in the month, Pidgley came out strongly in favour of a vote to remain in the EU, stating that the EU referendum outcome would be significant for the property and housebuilding sector in the UK.

Jeffries International equity analyst Anthony Codling said that Berkeley has a particularly high exposure to London and that the London housing market fundamentals are set to remain in a healthy position. Meanwhile, Berkeley Group did not provide a comment on the issue.

Earlier in the month Credit Suisse said that Berkeley Group Holdings is still very well managed but was not immune to the weakening conditions of the new build housing market of inner city London.