Taylor Wimpey warns over rising costs as completions fall, sales steady

(Sharecast News) - Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey warned over rising costs on Tuesday as it reported a fall in completions and steady sales. In an update ahead of its annual general meeting, the company said that as at 26 April, the total order book value was £2.2bn, down from £2.3bn a year earlier and representing 7,689 homes, down from 8,153.

The net private sales rate was 0.74 per outlet per week, versus 0.77 a year earlier, with a cancellation rate of 14%, down from 16%.

Taylor Wimpey said customer engagement remains resilient, but more recently there has been some underlying pricing pressure.

It said overall pricing in the order book is down around 1% year-on-year, with prices most impacted where affordability is more stretched in the South of England, and where it has made proactive choices to recycle capital as it phases out of its Greater London apartment schemes.

The company also said it has been "highly selective" in its approach to land buying, given the strength of its landbank and "reflecting the outlook". In the year to date, it has approved around 1,000 plots, compared to 1,700 a year earlier.

The housebuilder said build cost inflation is now expected to be low to mid single digit for 2026 due to rising energy costs, with cost pressure and surcharges starting to come through from its supply chain.

"We continue to be highly focused on the operational levers under our control, including driving sales performance, tightly controlling land and WIP spend and mitigating cost where possible," it said.

"Taylor Wimpey remains well positioned to generate value for shareholders and the wider UK economy from our high-quality, well-located landbank and to deliver growth and strong shareholder returns over the medium term."

At 0807 BST, the shares were down 4.1% at 79.96p.

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