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Home » Persimmon Encouraged By New Government As House Sales Edge Up

Persimmon Encouraged By New Government As House Sales Edge Up

Housebuilder Persimmon has hailed the impact of lower interest rates and the new Labour Government as it announced results which suggest the beginnings of a recovery in the construction sector.

Half-year results for the York-based firm showed increases in turnover, profit and average selling price, though only by small margins. The company completed 4,445 new homes in the first half of 2024, up from 4,249 this time last year.

With an average selling price of £263,288, the company’s half-year revenues rose from £1.19bn to £1.32bn and operating profit increased from £152.2m this time last year to £152.3m. Persimmon said it was on track to complete around 10,500 new homes this year, at the top end of previous guidance and an increase on last year but well below the 14,868 homes it built in 2022.

Read more: construction sector surges to two-year high Go here for more Yorkshire business news The company said it had achieved detailed planning permission on around 6,000 plots, with 1,000 of these “encouragingly” having come since July’s General Election, with the Labour Government signalling that it wants to removed barriers to housebuilding and other major construction projects. It said that its private sales rate since July 1 was 68% up on the same time last year.

Chief executive Dean Finch said: “Persimmon is a growing company with growing opportunities. The first half of the year has been strong with improved sales rates and robust average selling prices, despite ongoing affordability challenges. Strengthening consumer sentiment, improving macro-economic conditions and the government’s welcome and ambitious planning reforms that demand more of the high quality, affordable homes that are Persimmon’s core strength, are all supportive of our ambition to grow this year and in the future.

“We are opening more sites this year and will do the same next year, demonstrating the benefit of our continued land investment in recent years. This growing and strong platform means we are ready to deliver more of the homes our country requires while securing industry-leading returns over the medium-term.”

Looking ahead, Persimmon said that it was confident of further growth into 2025. “Although we recognise that the Government’s welcome planning reforms will take some time to come through, our ambition remains to grow our outlet base to over 300 in the medium-term,” the company said.

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