Housebuilder Bellway says it has seen a record number of new homes being completed as the housing market defied wider economic conditions to remain strong.
The Newcastle-based company has issued a trading update for the six months to the end of January in which its overall reservation rate rose 5.8% and it completed 5,694 new homes.
The average selling price of its homes rose 2.8% and is expected to be above £300,000 for its full financial year, it said.
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Bellway’s statement also addressed the fire safety issue facing many housebuilders in the wake of the Grenfell tragedy. The company said it “share(d) the Government’s general sentiment that the costs of correcting historical fire safety defects should not be borne by residents” though did not directly address the Government’s demand for a £4bn levy from housebuilders to take cladding off apartment buildings.
Bellway’s statement also makes only a passing mention of the supply chain and labour issues that many other housebuilders have commented on.
Chief executive Jason Honeyman said: “Bellway has delivered a strong first half performance, achieving record volume output and housing revenue, notwithstanding the wider economic challenges presented by labour, material and fuel shortages and Covid-19 related absenteeism.
“We have continued our disciplined investment in land and enter the second half of the financial year with a strong order book and a backdrop of ongoing, positive trading conditions.
“Going forward, Bellway is on track to deliver its target volume growth of around 10% this financial year and further growth to around 12,200 homes in financial year 2023. Thereafter, our strong balance sheet and capacity to invest positions the group well to continue its long-term and disciplined growth strategy.”
Bellway is the UK’s fourth largest housebuilder, and the North East’s fifth largest company, by turnover.
Last year it announced major growth ambitions, saying it wanted to build 18,000 homes a year over the next few years.
In its trading update, Bellway said it was seeing strong sales and expected more construction sites to come into operation in the coming year as it obtained planning permission.
It said its mid-market homes remained affordable in the current economic climate, though it expects its average selling price to fall in future years as it adapts its product mix to take account of the end to the Government’s Help to Buy scheme.
Revenues in the first of the year are expected to grow more than 3% to £1.775bn and the company has an order book of £1.940bn.
Bellway said that had set aside £164.7m over the last four years to deal with legacy building safety issues, adding that it would “engage positively” with the Government to find a “workable, industrywide solution” to the issue.
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