<p><span>Bellway grew its volume output to 5,694 new homes in its half year, a “record” for the housebuilder although only slightly up on the 5,656 homes of the equivalent period last year, it said today (February 8).</span></p> <p><span>Issuing a trading update for the six months ending January 31 2022 ahead of its interim results announcement on March 29, Bellway said it expected its housing revenue to lift by more than 3% to around £1,775 million. It added that its slightly elevated completions had benefitted from pent-up demand and “elevated construction progress”.</span></p> <p><span>Its overall reservation rate during the period rose 5.8% to 202 per week against H1 2021, with the average weekly private reservation rate improving 3.8% to 162</span><span>. This was done from an average of 247 outlets compared to last year’s 278. Bellway said some sites had traded out earlier than expected due to the strong sales rate experienced.</span></p> <p><span>During the six months, the housebuilder’s average selling price increased 2.8% to £311,800. This is now expected to be higher than previous guidance for the full year at more than £300,000 (July 31 2021: £306,479).</span></p> <p><span>Bellway noted that the use of Help to Buy on its sales had dropped to 18% …