The biggest improvement in the housing market since the start of the credit crunch has boosted profits and sales for a trio of housebuilders.
Taylor Wimpey plans to write back millions of pounds of value on its land holdings, while Redrow said profits will beat expectations, and Galliford Try said its results will break records.
Taylor Wimpey said it will write back some of the value slashed from its UK business during the downturn, when it came close to collapse. It wrote down £904.4m from its UK division in 2008 and £445m in 2009.
Along with Galliford Try, it hailed the impact of the government's Help to Buy scheme, which allows people to buy a home with a 5% deposit.
Taylor Wimpey’s completed sales during the first six months of the year edged up 2% to 5,192 homes. Its order book is up 35% on a year earlier to £1.3bn, or some 7,000 houses.
Galliford Try said forward sales are 15% ahead at £313m, and will result in record results for the year to the end of June.
Redrow said revenues were 26% higher to £604.8m during the year to the end of June - resulting in pre-tax profits ahead of City forecasts of between £52.2m and £61.6m.
The builders' buoyant trading echoes a recent upbeat statement from rival Persimmon, which said profit margins have soared to 15% a year and a half ahead of target, while it has also sold out a number of developments sooner than expected.
