Bellway said it is “encouraged” by customer demand despite reporting today that private home reservations were down by nearly 30% year-on-year over the spring selling season.

The £3.5bn turnover housebuilder said the demand, which while down sharply from the same time last year, represented a bounce back from the lows experienced in the wake of last autumn’s mini budget, and left the firm on track to build around 11,000 homes in the current financial year to July 31.

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