Redrow plc, the Flintshire-based house building giant, said on Thursday its first-half revenue rose £11 million to a record £1.05 billion, profit before tax rose 17% to £203 million, and interim dividend per share will rise 67% to 10p.

Redrow’s results for the 27 weeks to January 2 showed the value of private reservations for the period was up 6% to £884 million, total order book increased to £1.5 billion from £1.3 billion, and average private selling price rose 8% to £419,000.

Further, Redrow updated its fiscal 2024 outlook to report that revenue is now expected to be £2.3 billion to £2.4 billion compared to a previous outlook of greater than £2.2 billion.

Redrow CEO Matthew Pratt said: “Redrow continued to perform strongly in the first half, delivering record revenue for the period, which demonstrates the ongoing success of our strategy.

“Our premium quality product is more in demand and attractive to customers than ever before and is perfectly suited to accommodating the blending of family and work life that many of us are experiencing.

“By continuing to evolve our highly successful Arts & Crafts style Heritage Collection, we have capitalised on strong demand, improved sales margins and continued to invest for growth.

“The value of our first half reservations was £884m, an increase of 6% on the same period last year (2021: £836m), and our total order book increased to £1.5bn (2021: £1.3bn), leaving us well placed for the future …

“We are very aware of the stress and burden experienced by residents of high-rise apartments that have fire-safety issues.

“We share the Government’s desire to resolve this issue and are committed to being part of the solution.

“As we are predominantly a builder of family detached houses, we have historically only developed a relatively small number of high-rise apartment schemes.

“It is important that the whole industry plays its part in tackling the cladding issue, not just housebuilders.

“We will continue to participate in discussions with Government and all relevant parties to try and resolve this complex issue for the benefit of all leaseholders.

“We have made a positive start to the second half and are delivering against our strategy.

“In the five weeks to 6th February, private reservations in terms of value have averaged £417,000 per outlet per week and £367,000 excluding a bulk deal in London (2021: £301,000).

“We have also appointed the leadership team for our new Southern division, which will open this summer and is currently acquiring its first sites.

“With the ongoing popularity of our Heritage collection, strong land bank, and commitment of our teams across the country, I am confident the business will deliver further progress in the second half.”