Bellway order book up 20% as buyers seek bigger homes

Bellway reported strong demand for new homes in the second half of its financial year as buyers looked for larger properties with home-working space.

The company on Tuesday lifted its forecasts for the average selling price to £300,000 from £293,000. The order book rose 20.5% to £1.89bn in the four months to June 6.

Bellway said demand for larger, higher-value homes remained "encouraging" as locked-down workers looked for more space amid the growing work-from-home trend sparked by the Covid-19 crisis. It expected to complete the sale of around 10,000 homes in the financial year ending July 31, compared with 7,522 units a year earlier.

The extension of the government's stamp duty holiday also helped sales, despite the introduction of lower regional price caps under the "help-to-buy" scheme outside of London, and the restriction to first time buyers only from April 2021.

"Demand for our high-quality new homes continues to be strong and customer confidence throughout the wider housing market is resilient," said chief executive officer Jason Honeyman in a trading update.

UK house prices have soared, recording their biggest annual increase since 2014 in May, according to recent figures from mortgage lender Halifax.