Housebuilder’s interim management statement says order book has now returned to 2010 levels. Housebuilder Persimmon has seen a pick up in reservations since the beginning of the year and now has an order book a similar size to this time in 2010. In an interim management statement released this morning, it said that sales reservations since the start of the year were 12% higher year on year. The firm’s order book, including legal completions for this year, now stands at £1.14bn, which is comparable with the same period last year.
At the beginning of the year, Persimmon said it had been hit by snowy weather and the government’s austerity drive, and that it’s order book had been more than 10% lower than the previous year. It now said it expected more sales in the second half of 2011 than in the first half, and for average prices to rise, due to a change in the mix of homes it sold.
Persimmon also welcomed the government’s £250m pot of money to help first time buyers, announced in the Budget last month. “Recent government initiatives announced in the Budget in respect of planning changes and support for first time buyers are helpful and, whilst an improvement in mortgage supply would improve market conditions, we are operating successfully at the current levels of activity,” the company said.