<p>Bellway has seen “strong” underlying demand for new homes since the start of its financial year, with the business expecting housing completions to increase <span>25% for its full year. At the same time, the recent national lockdown and transition to the new Help to Buy scheme have impacted recent reservation levels.</span></p><p><span>Reporting on the period from August 1 to November 29 2020, the housebuilder said that its reservation rate increased 6% to 210 per week against the equivalent period last year.</span></p> <p><span>Bellway said sales rates were “more pronounced” at the start of the financial year, driven by pent-up demand from the spring lockdown. The second lockdown of November slowed reservations to an average of 164 per week, 30% down on the same period in 2019. The firm stated that sales were “still resilient” during the lockdown period.</span></p> <p><span>And the transition to new Help to Buy regulations had caused a “short term hiatus in the availability of the scheme,” producing a “moderating effect” on Bellway’s reservation rate in recent weeks.</span></p><p><span>Bellway said its order book was “substantial”, increasing 18.7% to £1,766.7 million against November 2019 and representing 6,186 homes. (November 24 2019: 5,770 homes).</span></p> <p><span>With its board being “cautiously optimistic”, Bellway expects housing …