<p><span class="av"><span>Taylor Wimpey is the latest housebuilder to report a falling sales rate and increased cancellation levels as customers respond to “heightened levels of economic uncertainty”.</span></span></p> <p><span class="av"><span>Giving a trading update, the firm achieved a net private sales rate of 0.74 homes per outlet per week for the year to date (2021: 0.95), with the rate falling to 0.51 homes in the second half against 0.91 during the equivalent period last year.</span></span></p> <p><span class="av"><span>During the second half of the year to date, Taylor Wimpey’s cancellation rate was </span></span><span class="at"><span>24% (2021: 14%). The year to date cancellation rate stands at 18% compared to last year’s 14%.</span><span></span></span></p> <p><span class="at"><span>But Taylor Wimpey said that customer visits to its website were continuing at “good levels, albeit with conversions taking longer”. Those customers with locked-in mortgage rates were still keen to complete their purchase, it added.</span></span></p> <p><span class="at"><span>In the year to date, the business has operated from an average of </span></span><span class="ao"><span>229 sales outlets (2021: 224). It is currently operating from 234 outlets (2021: 217), opening </span></span><span class="an"><span>74</span></span><span> </span><span class="ao"><span>new outlets during the year (2021:</span></span><span> <span class="an">64</span>). </span><span></span></p> <p><span>It expects to deliver full year operating profit in line with expectations thanks to “resilient pricing in …