Housebuilder giants Persimmon and Vistry have cheered the new stamp duty holiday alongside reporting improved customer demand as the Covid-19 lockdown eases.
The companies today both gave updates for the six months to June 30. They were reporting a day after Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a suspension of stamp duty on property sales of up to £500,000 until March 2021.
The move is aimed at boosting the market following a turbulent period, with people urged to avoid moving where possible at the start of the lockdown. Estate agent offices and show homes were allowed to reopen in May.
Persimmon’s chief executive Dave Jenkinson spoke to the Evening Standard about the stamp duty changes: “Obviously it is a welcome move, and it may encourage some customers that were sitting on the fence to commit to purchases.”
During the lockdown it saw sales slow, but was able to agree deals, with staff working from home and offering virtual viewings. Total first-half revenues at Persimmon decreased to £1.19 billion from £1.75 billion.
Persimmon said in the six weeks since sales offices reopened in mid-May, reservation levels are around 30% higher than a year earlier.
The forward order book stood at £1.36 billion as at June 30, up 15%.
Shares in Persimmon rose 111p to 2544p.
Bovis Homes’ owner Vistry said of the stamp duty exemption: “We anticipate this positive stimulus will support buyers as well as the wider economy.”
It said Covid-19 disruption will impact first-half margins, but boss Greg Fitzgerald was upbeat. He said: "We have seen an ongoing pick up in sales over the past eight weeks with prices remaining firm, giving us a strong forward order book and confidence for the second half."
Shares in Vistry, which was formed via Bovis’ £1.1 billion deal to buy Galliford Try’s housing arms earlier this year, rose 10p to 721.5p.
