Housebuilder Bellway has reported a 14.3% rise in completions in its last financial year but wants more Government help for first-time buyers.
The North East-based FTSE250 firm saw revenue grow 17% to £2.76bn in the year to the end of July, having completed 8,749 homes, compared with 7,654 the year before. Ahead of a full year announcement in October, Bellway told investors its underlying operating margin is expected to approach 11%, up from 10% last year, and ahead of previous forecasts.
Bosses said the 2025 financial year had brought a solid performance despite demand tapering off in recent months. They pointed to continued delays caused by local authority planning departments, who they said are taking time to adopt new local plans and the updated National Planning Policy Framework.
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Bellway has called on the Government to address "demand-side constraints" facing first-time buyers if it wants to meet ambitious housing targets. It said the Government's planning reforms should help it in the years ahead.
Jason Honeyman, group chief executive, said: "Bellway has delivered a solid performance despite ongoing headwinds for our industry. There was good growth in volume output and an improvement in underlying margin which are set to drive a strong increase in profits for FY25.
"We have entered the new financial year with a healthy forward order book and outlet opening programme and, if market conditions remain stable, we are well-positioned to deliver further growth in FY26.
"We have a high-quality land bank and the operational capacity across the group to support our plans to deliver long-term volume growth. During the year we have made excellent progress with refreshing our approach to capital efficiency across all our divisions, and I remain confident that we can drive increased cash generation and shareholder returns in the years ahead."
Bellway said customer demand had been helped by the availability of mortgages and relatively stable interest rates. Its headline pricing and use of sales incentives was kept at similar levels across regions - with the firm's average selling price rising to about £316,000, up from just under £308,000 in 2024.
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Build cost inflation was said to be in the low single digits throughout the year with good levels of building materials and subcontractor availability across the group. During the year, agreements were made to purchase 8,120 plots across 51 sites, up from 4,621 plots across 27 sites in 2024.
The private reservation rate saw an increase of 12.1% to an average of 139 per week, up from 124 last year. The rate per outlet per week improved to 0.62 in the second half of the year but was followed by softer trading in the final quarter.
Bellway was selling from an average of 246 sites during the year - roughly similar to 2024 - with a similar number expected throughout its 2026 financial year. Its forward order book at the end of July was 5,307 homes with a value of £1.52bn, up from 5,144 homes with a value of £1.41bn the year before.
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