Help to Buy lifts profits at builder to £857m

TAYLOR Wimpey became the latest builder yesterday to rake in bumper profits on the back of the taxpayer-funded Help to Buy scheme.

In a further sign the industry is awash with cash while first- time buyers struggle to get on the housing ladder, the company posted a 5.5pc rise in profits to £856.8m for 2018.

The figures came just a day after rival Persimmon reported profits of £1.1bn.

The record- breaking hauls come as developers face a fierce backlash over fat cat pay, shoddy workmanship and the sale of homes with rip-off leases.

Critics described the profits as ‘obscene’ given the £10.7bn of taxpayers’ cash that has flooded into the housing market through Help to Buy and the leasehold scandal.

Taylor Wimpey sold 5,828 newly built homes through Help to Buy last year. That was 38pc of the total of 15,275 homes. Nearly half of Persimmon homes are sold through Help to Buy.

With the average Taylor Wimpey home selling for £302,000 last year, up 2pc on the year before, revenues rose 2.9pc to £4.1bn.

Shares rose 3.5pc, or 6.05p, to 177p.