Two of the UK’s biggest housebuilders have made upbeat announcements, with Taylor Wimpey now fully sold for 2009.
In an interim statement, Taylor Wimpey said housing market conditions continued to be “significantly better” than a year ago and it was now focused on achieving prices increases and building its 2010 order book.
The housebuilder’s total order book value is now £1bn and its build rates have steadily increased.
“We have opened 22 outlets in the second half to date and now have 317 active outlets, with further openings planned for the balance of the year,” it said.
Continued stability in the US housing market also gave Taylor Wimpey cause for “cautious optimism”.
An interim statement from Redrow plc shows its home sales in the first 18 weeks of the new financial year are 47% ahead of the same period in 2008, with the normally seasonally weaker months of July and August averaging 45 net private home reservations per week.
“We are currently selling from 74 developments and remain on track to launch a number of new outlets featuring the New Heritage Collection in the early months of 2010,” it said.
Redrow said 2009 had been a “significant” year for the company and it would enter 2010 well placed to meet the challenges and opportunities ahead.
