Housebuilder Bellway has increased its profits by 53% to £158m in the six months to the end of January 2015, as average selling prices for completed properties rose 3.4% to £219,343.
Bellway completed on 3,754 properties, 15.7% up on the equivalent period last year. Completions in the north of England were up 23.6% to 1,822, with average prices rising 4.8% to £187,777 from £177,526.
Completions in the south of England were up 9.1% to 1,932. Prices in the south rose more slowly than in the north, increasing 3.4% to an average of £249,112, driven by strong performance in London.
Bellway’s London revenue totalled £203m compared with £174.6m the year before, accounting for 24.7% of the company’s total housing revenue.
Bellway has planning permission for more than 20,000 plots, up from 19,434 at the end of July 2014, and expects to start work on these soon.
The company has a further 15,800 plots in its land bank, for which it expects to receive planning permission in the short to medium term.
