Persimmon finance director Mike Killoran was speaking after the group’s half-year results revealed 1,700 homes had been reserved and 384 sales completed under the Help to Buy equity scheme since its launch in April.
He said the scheme had increased public confidence in house buying and dismissed worries that the second part of the scheme would trigger a house price bubble: “Mortgage lenders are going to be disciplined about their lending practices. There is quite a stringent stress test and they try to understand a lot more about the customer’s background. That puts us in a good position to have good quality lending.
“We will see a good increase in volume in the second half of the year and that is because we can sell more homes. We are very keen to sell and build more homes.”
Improvements in mortgage availability had also helped boost activity with sales picking up by as much as 5% in the first months of 2013, he added.
Overall Persimmon sales were up 7% to 5,022 and profits before tax jumped 40% to £135.3m, the half-year results showed.
As well as first-time buyers, the demand for larger new-build properties from existing owner-occupiers helped to boost sales.
Last week, a poll of 29 economists found almost half feared Help to Buy and other housing market measures could lead to a sharp rise in house prices.
