Taylor Wimpey PLC (LSE:TW.) has reiterated full-year guidance, reporting continued recovering demand in the UK’s housing sector and higher sales than were announced in March.
“We have seen continued recovery in demand from the low levels experienced towards the end of 2022,” the FTSE 100-listed housebuilder said in a statement.
Falling interest rates, “good levels” of available housing and “a continued commitment by mortgage providers to lend” led to an “incremental improvement” during the spring selling season, the company updated.
Taylor Wimpey’s order book sat at £2.4bn as of April 23, down 21% on the £3bn reported at the same point last year.
This represents 8,576 homes, the housebuilder explained, and included a host of planned bulk orders.
Cancellations sat at 15% for the year, up from 14%, with private net sales slipping from 0.97 to 0.75, though this was higher than the 0.68 Taylor Wimpey had anticipated in March.
Minus bulk deals, sales rate for the full year sat at 0.66, with this likely to be broadly similar in the year ahead.
“Whilst challenges remain for our customers, particularly first-time buyers, targeted marketing spend has enabled us to maintain customer interest at healthy levels,” the company added.
Looking ahead, the housebuilder forecast completions to be more weighted to the second half of 2023, sitting between 9,000 to 10,500 at the year-end.