Builder Bellway cashes in on housing demand with a profits record

HOUSING demand is holding up despite rising prices and a mortgage lending crackdown, helping house builder Bellway to rack up record annual profits.

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Bellway said customer confi-dence had improved since the start of 2014 and demand stayed strong throughout but trading had stabilised later in the year.

The buoyancy drove a 74.5 per cent rise in its pre-tax profits to £245.9million in the year to July 31 as sales lifted 21.2 per cent to 6,851 homes. It said 2015 volumes should rise by a tenth.

Moves to cool the market such as the Mortgage Market Review, which forces lenders to ensure borrowers can repay loans, were having relatively little impact

Figures yesterday showed house prices rising again in August, although at a slower rate than in July.

Chief executive Ted Ayres said moves to cool the market such as the Mortgage Market Review, which forces lenders to ensure borrowers can repay loans, were having relatively little impact.

But he said planning difficulties had eased thanks to measures to force councils to ensure enough housing land.

Ayres commented: "It puts pressure on local authorities to work with developers to bring forward planning permissions."

The dividend is raised by 73.3 per cent to 52p per share and the shares closed 82p higher at 1565p.

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