Taylor Wimpey holds guidance as order book rises

House builder Taylor Wimpey maintained annual guidance and reported an increased order book despite the latest Covid lockdown as strong demand and government support schemes drove sales.

The company on Thursday said its sales rate for the year to April 18 was 1.00 against 0.90 in the equivalent period last year. Its order book stood at around £2.8bn, representing 10,995 homes against £2.66bn a year ago.

Sales were driven by continued strong customer demand, low interest rates, good mortgage availability and ongoing government support for first time buyers via the stamp duty holiday extension and new 95% mortgage guarantee scheme.

“We have made good early progress on our 2021 priorities, including driving operating profit margin and an enhanced cost control mindset across the business. Our focus remains on delivering our operating profit margin target of 21-22% in the medium term,” the company said in a trading statement.

It added that despite the national lockdown imposed in January, customer demand for new housing had remained resilient.

“Trading is in line with expectations and we remain on track to deliver against our guidance set out at our 2020 full yea results in March. The transition into the next phase of Help to Buy has progressed smoothly and we have experienced strong customer demand for our homes under the new scheme."