Persimmon on track for 10,500 homes

Persimmon is on track to deliver completions of around 10,500 homes for its full year, up from last year’s 9,922, it said today (November 6) in a trading update. It also said it was assessing the implications of last week’s Budget on costs, including the impact of employer national insurance increases.

During the period since July 1, the volume housebuilder’s private homes delivery rose 3% to 1,267, with overall homes delivery decreasing slightly to 1,416 against the 1,439 of the equivalent period in 2023.

Since July 1, Persimmon’s net private sales rate per outlet has improved 37% to 0.70 - 0.61 excluding bulk sales. Net year to date private reservations since January 1 are up 24% on last year.

The housebuilder said customer interest remained “good” across all its regions, with affordability constraints easing thanks to initial reductions in interest rates. Persimmon also noted a “greater availability” of more than 90% loan-to-value mortgage products than a year previously.

It said its private forward sales position had increased 40% to £1.45 billion, “reflecting more stable market conditions in 2024”.

The private average selling price in the forward order book, Persimmon said, remained “robust” at around £291,400 …