Buoyant Bovis in call to Osborne for more Help to Buy support

HOUSEBUILDER Bovis wants more of the same from the Chancellor in the Budget after record sales in the first half of the year, chief executive David Ritchie said today.

Home sales rose 3% to a new high of 1525 and the firm expects the full-year figure to top 3500. A shift towards building more family housing and towards the South also boosted the average selling price by 10% to £264,000.

The Chancellor has already committed to extending the first part of the Help to Buy scheme — offering loans for deposits — until 2020, giving a shot in the arm to the market. The Government also cut stamp duty bills for the vast majority of buyers in December.

Ritchie said: “We’d like ongoing support for the Help to Buy product, and for the regime that we now have in the planning environment. Two really vital things for us as a business are a ready supply of consented land over the medium term and the ability of people to draw a mortgage to buy a house.

“The mortgage market itself is in robust health and Help to Buy is still giving first-time buyers a great opportunity to start home ownership,” he added.