York-based house building giant Persimmon plc on Tuesday declared another interim dividend of 70p per share and said it is fully sold up for the current year with £1.36 billion of forward sales reserved beyond 2020, 43% up on last year.

“Reflecting the group’s continuing strong performance, a further interim dividend of 70p per share will be paid on 14 December 2020, which together with the interim dividend of 40p per share paid in September, replaces the previously postponed 110p per share final dividend declared for 2019,” said Persimmon.

In a third quarter trading statement that covers the period from July 1, 2020, to November 9, 2020, Persimmon reported a “strong third quarter performance, supported by firm selling prices and resilient demand for new build homes.”

It said average private weekly sales rates per site for the period were 38% ahead of 2019.

Looking ahead, Persimmon said: “We believe the longer term fundamentals of the UK housing market remain favourable.

“However uncertainties remain including those posed by further Covid-19 disruption, rising unemployment and the potential impact of the outcome of trade negotiations with the European Union and the rest of the world.”