Persimmon has seen a lift in sales thanks in part to a series of government measures designed to help housebuilders.
Ahead of its AGM today the company said its weekly private sales rate was 4% ahead in the first 15 weeks of the year.
Legal completions already achieved in the year are £1.38bn, an 11% increase on the £1.24bn achieved in the same period last year.
Persimmon said the government’s Help to Buy scheme had lifted the number of customers making enquiries.
Numbers were up 24% to the middle of March but increased a further 30% following the government’s Help to Buy announcement, the company said.
“While it remains too early to measure any increase in legal completions as a result of the Help to Buy scheme, we remain confident of the strength of underlying demand for new homes in the UK and that these measures will support an increase in the number of new homes delivered by the industry over the medium term,” the company said.
Group chief executive Mike Farley steps down from his role today to be replaced by Jeff Fairburn, who was previously group managing director.
jack.sidders@estatesgazette.com
