The housebuilder said it had fully sold up for the current year as a “resilient demand for new-build homes” resulted in a strong trading period. 

Its average private weekly sales rates per site were also up 38 per cent in the three months to 9 November, compared to the same period last year.  

Persimmon’s properties sold for an average price of £246,208, slightly up from £242,912 last year but 19 per cent lower than the UK national average. 

The group said its affordable price points made its homes attractive to first-time buyers as half of its private completions for the 10 months to 31 October had been to those stepping onto the property ladder. 

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Land purchase down

Persimmon has only purchased 1,700 new plots to date this year, a significant drop on the 7,300 plots it acquired last year.

The builder said it remained cautious when acquiring new land and judged each purchase against a “strict criteria”.

The group had a cash balance of £960m as of 31 October 2020, up from £371m the year before. However, it has deferred land commitments of £325m to be paid as well as £70m to land creditors, which it said would leave it with £255m by the end of the year.

Dean Finch, group chief executive, said: “Persimmon continues to perform robustly despite the significant challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic and we are currently on course to deliver a good result for 2020.  

“The task in front of us is to continue to build a sustainable business in every sense – one that can maintain a strong financial performance whilst continually improving customer service, and fulfilling our important role in the economy, in our communities and for the environment.”