Housebuilder Bellway (LON:BWY) announced record sales and a 44% rise in annual profits but said skilled workers were still at a premium.
Bellway said it sold a record 7,752 homes in the year to July 31 against 6,851 in 2014, up 13.2%. Pre-tax profit was £354.2mln against £246mln, up 44%.
Revenue rose 19% to £1,765.4mln and the group increased its total dividend per share by 48.1% to 77p.
The company said the housing market remained strong, supported by an improvement in mortgage availability and robust customer confidence.
Bellway said it expected interest rates to rise "at some point in the future" but said new homes remained affordable and lenders were staying responsible towards mortgage applications.
It said there were still constraints on the availability of certain labour trades, with the pressures staying most pronounced in and around south-east England, although the rise in sub-contract costs had become more modest.
There was also still some inevitable, industry-wide upward pressure on material costs, most notably for bricks, blocks and some timber products, but the increases were starting to abate.
The group began the 2015/16 financial year with an order book of 4,568 homes worth £1,087.9mln versus 4,363 homes last time valued at £924.3mln.
In the nine weeks since August 1, the group took an average of 149 reservations per week, up 16% against a year ago.
Chief executive Ted Ayres said: "Notwithstanding the ongoing constraints regarding the availability of labour, the strength of this forward order book should give rise to the group achieving further volume growth of up to 10% in the current financial year."
Shares rose 81p to 2451p. There have been concerns that continued strength of the UK housing market would create a price bubble as supply fails to keep pace with demand.
Keith Bowman at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers said the results were at the upper end of forecasts.
But he noted the labour constraints, a prospective interest rate hike and a 60% plus increase in the share price over the last year, which Bowman said raised some valuation concerns.
He said: "For now, Bellway and the industry remain in a purple patch. The full weight of both government and central bank support continue to be given, with both the Help to Buy shared equity scheme extended to 2020 and prospects for an increase in interest rates being pushed back ever further.
"In all, given positive current trading and a solid forward order book, analyst consensus opinion continues to point towards a strong buy.”