Persimmon forward sales revenue falls on lower reservations

House builder Persimmon said forward sales revenue fell to £2.7bn from £2.8bn on the back of lower reservations in the year to date, adding that building costs would rise by 4%.

In a trading update ahead of its annual meeting on Wednesday, the company said it had 350 active sales outlets, down 25 on the same time last year.

Weekly private sales rate per site since the start of the year was 5% lower than the previous year, it added.

“Pricing conditions remain firm across our regional markets, the average selling price of sales to the private market in our forward order book being £237,850 (against) 2018's £236,500,” Persimmon said.

Last month the company launched an independent review of its customer care, culture and the quality of work as it tried to put an executive pay scandal and complaints over new-build homes behind it.

The BBC reported in April that a couple who spent nearly £300,000 on a Persimmon new-build house have hung a banner outside warning off potential buyers.

Neil and Faye Williams bought a house on a new Persimmon Homes estate in Droitwich, Worcestershire, and said it is "bodge after bodge after bodge".

They claim to have found 30 faults and problems in "every single room".

Last year Persimmon faced an investor revolt over a pay scheme linking rewards to share price performance, with £500m in bonuses paid out to 150 executives amid a sector-record annual profit of £1.1bn made on the back of the government’s help to buy scheme.

In March, the company responded to criticism about the quality of its homes by announcing it will allow homebuyers to withhold 1.5% of the property value – an average of £3,600 a home – until all faults are fixed.