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.
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.”
