THE average selling price for Taylor Wimpey homes in Scotland increased by five per cent in the first half of the year compared to the same time last year, signalling the market remains firm.
The Half Year results showed 579 home completions for the period for Scotland and a total average selling price for the first six months of 2018 of £223,000, against £212,000 for the same period last year.
The company announced profit before tax of £301million, a 47% increase on last year's £205m.
It has also set aside £30m to replace Aluminium Composite Material cladding, providing support to customers on specific developments following a detailed review in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower disaster, saying the move was "morally right".
Read more: Residents at Glasgow Harbour face £10m bill to replace 'Grenfell-style' fire risk cladding
Most of the provision will go to the Glasgow Harbour development, with Taylor Wimpey saying its particular circumstances mean "funding the replacement is the right course of action".
Residents of the two Glasgow tower blocks were faced with massive bills to replace cladding.
The firm says it carried out a review to identify all legacy and current buildings with such cladding and worked with building owners, management companies and the fire service to implement Government advice on interim mitigation measures.
Pete Redfern, Taylor Wimpey chief executive, said: "As employment prospects remain positive and mortgage availability is good, customer demand for our homes has been strong in spite of some wider macroeconomic uncertainty.
"With a strong order book in place, we are confident in our prospects for the remainder of the year and looking further ahead.
"We have been very pleased to see further improvement in our customer satisfaction scores which is the result of our increased investment in this area over the last three years."
Read more: Housebuilders make gain as Taylor Wimpey hikes dividend
Mr Redfern also said: "We have a great platform in place as we roll out our new strategy for customer centred growth, which means taking a proactive approach to every aspect of our operations and becoming a more agile, focused and innovative business.
"Improving the efficient use of our land, and improving all key processes over the next five years, will enable us to deliver more homes and a high-quality product and service to our customers and communities and increased value for shareholders.
"We remain on track to deliver the board’s expectations for 2018.”
Taylor Wimpey typical external
Taylor Wimpey highlighted one Scottish site, at Benthall Farm in East Kilbride, where 546 new homes are due to be completed in by 2025.
It represents a £70m investment over nine years, with the delivery of 25% affordable housing that will be met with 62 new affordable homes being built on-site by South Lanarkshire Council on 4.2 net developable acres provided by Taylor Wimpey, which also provides the equivalent provision of contributions for a further 60 off-site affordable homes.
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