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Builder confident of selling 10,000 homes
Bellway is confident in hitting its target of selling 10,000 homes in a year for the first time, it said in a trading update this morning.
The house builder added that it believed market conditions were “favourable” and “stable”, with demand remaining strong, especially for affordably priced family homes.
Never in its history has Bellway sold 10,000 homes in a single year, but it said that it anticipated volume growth of around 600 homes to hit the target.
Its average selling price currently stands at £280,000 and it expects to hit an operating margin of 22% for the year, which would grow earnings considerably.
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John Watson, executive chairman of Bellway, said: “For the full year, Bellway is on target to complete the sale of in excess of 10,000 homes for the first time in its history and in doing so, achieve another record year of earnings.
“Furthermore, we have invested a substantial amount in new land, laying the foundations for further growth, beyond this financial year.”
Bellway has put £678m into land and land creditors since 1 August, up from £586m for the same period last year.
Bellway cited the continued availability of Help to Buy, the government’s loan programme for people buying new-build homes, as one of the main reasons for its commercial success.
Last year, Theresa May announced a £10bn boost for Help to Buy, but some builders are already worrying about what will happen to the scheme after 2021.
In January this year, David Thomas, chief executive of Britain’s biggest builder, Barratt Developments, said he hoped the government would announce its intentions in the next three to six months, a period which has now almost expired.
