<p><span>Taylor Wimpey has made a “good start” to 2019, the housebuilder said today (April 25), while acknowledging the effect of increased build cost inflation for the year. </span></p> <p><span>Issuing an update ahead of its Annual General meeting covering January 1 2019 to today, the firm said that the new build housing market had remained stable during the first four months of the year.</span></p> <p><span>Sales throughout the spring selling season maintained their “encouraging” levels, with average private sales for the year to date at </span><span>1.03 per outlet per week compared to 0.85 during the equivalent period in 2018.</span></p> <p><span>As of the week ending April 21 2019, the company’s total order book value stood at around £2,399 million (2018 week 16: £2,155 million), representing 10,291 homes against the previous year’s 9,050.</span></p> <p><span>The business noted it had seen “higher than expected” cost inflation in early 2019, especially in materials, and now expected build cost inflation for the year to be around 5%. Bearing this in mind, it said it anticipated slightly lower margins for the year.</span></p> <p><span>It added that it remained on course to meet its overall expectations for 2019 but with results weighted towards the second half. “Given the strong sales performance, …