National housebuilder Bellway plc reported a 69% growth in half-year pre-tax profits to £40.6m and also confirmed it would continue to reduce its levels of timber frame construction.
“Bellway has been reducing the amount of timber frame used for some time as a reflection of its cost,” said Bellway spokesperson Julian Kenyon.
“Currently 6% of our volume is timber frame, 89% is traditional masonry and the remainder is concrete frame. There is no other reason [to reduce timber frame] apart from cost and we expect to continue to reduce timber frame production.”
Bellway sold 2,455 homes in the six months ended January 31, a 5.3% increase.
Despite economic uncertainties and the threat of unemployment, Bellway reported an underlying demand for its homes, with visitor levels following their normal upward trend since the start of the year.
It expressed hope that the government’s New Buy initiative would assist in underpinning future sales rates, though said this was unlikely to have any significant effect on completions in the current financial year.
