Persimmon reports strong demand in third quarter

Persimmon said demand for its properties remained strong in the third quarter as the housebuilder benefited from the government's Help to Buy programme.

Total sales per site were in line with the year before during the period from 1 July to 7 November, Persimmon said in a trading statement.

The company is fully sold up for this year and has £909m of forward sales reserved beyond 2017 – 10% more than a year ago.

After a lull during July and August, customer activity has picked up as usual, Persimmon said.

Mortgage approvals were about 8% up on a year earlier and first-time buyers supported by Help to Buy were able to secure low rates.

"Enquiries received from customers, including website traffic, have been running in line with the elevated levels of last year," Persimmon said. "Pricing remains firm across our regional markets."

Persimmon's trading suggests the UK housing market is holding up despite falling prices in expensive parts of London and weakening public confidence in the market. Halifax, Britain's biggest mortgage lender, this week reported price rises picking up, supported by cheap mortgages and low unemployment.

Britain's housebuilders have boomed since 2013 when the government launched Help to Buy, which subsidises mortgages for first-time buyers. The government added £10bn to the scheme in October but critics have said its main effect is to pump up property prices rather than support house buyers.

Persimmon said getting planning approval from local authorities was as difficult as ever despite government efforts to make housebuilding easier. The company spent £147m on land for 5,526 new plots during the third quarter.

"We anticipate that the group will achieve strong strategic land conversion over the next couple of years as local authorities complete their plans to identify sufficient land to meet the assessed housing need in their local communities," Persimmon said.