Housebuilder Bellway has hailed a “resilient” housing market as it continues to add to its landbank.
The company has made a record investment in land, signing contracts on 15,982 plots valued at £891m since last August and agreeing heads of terms on a further 9,000.
Sales between the start of February and 6 June averaged 239 reservations a week, an increase of more than 50% on the same period a year earlier. The value of the company’s order book has risen by a fifth to £1.9bn across 6,763 homes.
Completions for the full year are likely to come in at 10,000 homes, with a slowdown in the second half compared to the first, with an average selling price of more than £300,000, up from £293,000 last July.
Chief executive Jason Honeyman said that “customer confidence throughout the wider housing market is resilient”.
In its trading update, the company said: “Notwithstanding the introduction of lower regional Help-to-Buy price caps, outside of London, and the restriction of the scheme to first time buyers only, with effect from April 2021, the demand for larger, higher value homes remains encouraging.”
The company has net cash of £408m, a turnaround from its £157m of net debt last May.
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