Persimmon has raised its housebuilding forecast for the year after being encouraged by plans under the new Labour government.
The housebuilder’s half-year trading update said that its outlook was more positive after seeing a rise in visits by potential buyers, which will only be bolstered by the Bank of England’s decision to lower interest rates last week as it is likely to lead to lower mortgage costs for house buyers.
Persimmon also suggested that the government’s planning reforms had given them further confidence and would benefit its housebuilding rates.
The trading update read: “We are encouraged by the early announcements of the new government, particularly around planning.”
“Although we recognise that the government’s welcome planning reforms will take some time to come through, our ambition remains to grow our outlet base to over 300 in the medium term.”
Persimmon now estimates it will deliver around 10,500 homes in the year, at the top end of its previous targets.
In the first half of the year, the housebuilder completed 4,445 new homes, a 5% increase year on year. The figure includes a 14% rise in private home completions, with 3,742 homes completed in the period.
Dean Finch, group chief executive of Persimmon, said: “Persimmon is a growing company with growing opportunities. The first half of the year has been strong with improved sales rates and robust average selling prices, despite ongoing affordability challenges. Strengthening consumer sentiment, improving macro-economic conditions and the government’s welcome and ambitious planning reforms that demand more of the high-quality, affordable homes that are Persimmon’s core strength, are all supportive of our ambition to grow this year and in the future.”
“We are opening more sites this year and will do the same next year, demonstrating the benefit of our continued land investment in recent years. This growing and strong platform means we are ready to deliver more of the homes our country requires while securing industry-leading returns over the medium term.”
