Taylor Wimpey is predicting the number of houses it builds in Scotland this year will be up almost seven per cent.

The company said consumers around the UK still appear to have great confidence in the housing market which is being helped by low interest rates and a competitive mortgage market.

Sales across the summer were said to be “excellent” with the pace increasing into the autumn.

That helped it to report a record order book of £2.1 billion, representing more than 8,500 homes.

According to the company it has met its target for completions in 2015 and has sold 27 per cent of its target for next year.

In Scotland Taylor Wimpey has built around 1,000 homes on average in recent years.

Finance director Ryan Mangold said the Scottish market had performed well in 2015 even though there remained uncertainty about further provision of Help to Buy funding.

He said: “We think our volume our volume growth in Scotland year-on-year is going to be a little bit less than seven per cent.

“For the rest of the UK it will be a little more than seven per cent but it is not a huge difference between the two marketplaces.

“From a pricing perspective it is more driven by quality locations than by market fundamentals.”

Additional detail on Help to Buy funding in Scotland is expected within the next few weeks after the scheme ran out of money in May.

Mr Mangold welcomed any further Help to Buy injection but believes the wider mortgage market offers a wide range of choice.

He also stated that consumers are becoming increasingly “resilient” in the face of any potential rise in interest rates and said: “Participation in Help to Buy when it is available in Scotland seems to be much higher than the rest of the UK.

“That could simply be the stop start nature of it leading to pent up demand and making it an effective selling tool.

“The mortgage market more widely has improved dramatically. If you want a 90 per cent loan to value on any property you can get a huge amount of choice and very sensible interest rates.”

Taylor Wimpey said building costs had increased around five per cent mainly as a result of higher labour charges.

Mr Mangold said there were areas around the UK when some skill sets were in short supply but there was no clear national trend.

The company expects the pace of cost growth to ease as it goes into next year.

Pete Redfern, chief executive, added: "We have seen an excellent summer selling season strengthen further in the autumn period, with customer confidence high and demand underpinned by rising real wages and good access to a wide range of mortgage products.

“Against this backdrop, we are reporting record order book levels and expect to deliver an improvement in operating profit margin of over 200 basis points in 2015 and a return on net operating assets of over 25 per cent.

“As we look forward, we are particularly pleased to see that the tighter lending requirements are helping to ensure that monthly payments remain affordable and sustainable, which contributes towards a healthy outlook for both homebuyers and homebuilders."

Hargreaves Lansdown equity analyst Keith Bowman said: "In line with the broader sector, Taylor Wimpey has flagged ongoing robust trading. A record order book has been achieved, with a further expansion in the group's operating profit margin forecast.

"An impressive jump in second half sales rates has been reported, whilst over a quarter of 2016 private completions have already been sold. Sales price growth is outpacing rising build costs, while ongoing cash generation is fuelling a continued shareholder cash return programme.

"In all, the update reflects still highly solid consumer demand for new housing. Rising real wages and high competition in the mortgage product market are playing their part, while both Government and Bank of England policy remain highly supportive.”