Completion Goal in Sight for Taylor Wimpey in 2024
With growing market uncertainty and affordability challenges impacting the housebuilding sector, it may come as a surprise that Taylor Wimpey are defying some market trends.
On track to hitting their completion goal, between 9,500 and 10,000 homes are predicted to be completed through 2024. This comes off the back of ‘as expected’ sales in the first quarter of the year.
The housebuilding giant, in a trading update, said it has made a “good start” to 2024.
Focusing on private sales for the year up to 21 April, the housebuilder sold 0.73 per outlet per week, which was slightly down from 0.75 across the same period in 2023.
None bulk sales up from 0.66 per unit per week
However, the opposite trend was found when excluding bulk sales, sales per outlet per week rose 0.03 to 0.69 over the same period.
Taylor Wimpey says it expects to meet its previous completion forecast with more than half of the expected completions (55%) in the second half of the 2024 calendar year.
2024 off to a better than predicted start for Taylor Wimpey
Jennie Daly, chief executive of the £3.5bn-turnover business, said: “We have made a good start to 2024 with the Spring selling season progressing as expected.
“While we are mindful of ongoing market uncertainty and affordability challenges, it is pleasing to see continued market stability supported by good mortgage availability and sustained customer confidence.”
Taylor Wimpey re-iterated that its build cost inflation on current projects is around 4%, which, along with slightly lower pricing, will affect its operating profit margin this year.
Despite this positive trend, even major housebuilder Taylor Wimpey aren’t immune to core industry contributing factors. While on track to meet their housebuilding target, this figure will be lower than the 10,848 erected in 2023.
Looking more widely it is down further from the 14,151 posted in 2022. The firm had previously claimed “weaker economic backdrop” was a contributing factor to this.
