Member Article

House builder reports step change in market

National house builder Taylor Wimpey says it has noticed a positive step change in market conditions, fuelled by the Goverment’s Help to Buy scheme.

Ahead of its full year trading results, the firm said it expected to publish significant improvements across all of its divisions.

Taylor Wimpey said it worked with 2,900 households who were using the Help to Buy scheme to get a foot on the housing ladder.

Their own total home completions increased by 7% over the year, and average selling prices on private completions also increased 7% - driven by a move to development of better quality locations.

While the firm’s Spanish housing business turned a small profit, certain parts of the Spanish market were said to be “extremely challenging.”

Chief executive Pete Redfern said: “We saw a meaningful step change in market conditions in 2013, after several years of a declining or flat market. In these improving conditions, Taylor Wimpey is benefitting from the discipline that has been instilled over the past five years with a clear focus on margin as the best measure of the quality of our business.

“Focussing on the long term health of the business allows us to take the right decisions today to deliver much needed homes all the way through the housing cycle.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .