Monday 17 January 2022 7:24 am | Updated: Monday 17 January 2022 7:55 am

Taylor Wimpey’s order book hits £2.5bn amid strong demand for homes

Home builder Taylor Wimpey ended the 2021 financial year in a strong position with an order book valued at £2.5bn.

In a trading updated issued today the company said it had delivered “an excellent performance” in 2021 with full year results in line with expectations. UK home completions increased by 47 per cent to 14,087 last year as demand surged, with the overall average selling price of homes increasing from £288k in 2020 to £300k in 2021.

“We have delivered an excellent performance in 2021,” commented Pete Redfern, Taylor Wimpey’s chief executive. “Market conditions remain supportive and we continue to see strong demand for our homes.”

“Our proactive landbuying strategy during the pandemic supported accelerated land investments at attractive margins, providing a sector-leading landbank that will support future, significant growth,” Redfern continued, referencing the growth of the company’s short term land bank from 77k in 2020 to 85k plots this year.

Redfern added that the company is “well placed to deliver against our targets,” with “increased cash return for shareholders” a priority over the long term.

Taylor Wimpey ended the year with strong net cash of £837m, up from £719.4m in 2020 and ahead of company expectations due to the timing of land spend.

While the company faced sector wide challenges from inflation and supply chain disruption the added costs of house building were reportedly fully offset by rising house prices. A full set of results for 2021 is expected in March 2022 according to the company.

Taylor Wimpey’s share price is down 7.53 per cent over the past month.