York-based house building giant Persimmon plc said on Thursday its current private forward sales position has increased 15% to £2.09bn.

In a third-quarter trading statement for the period from July 1, 2025, Persimmong said: “We are well positioned to achieve our planned growth in 2025, with 83% of this year’s expected private delivery already exchanged or completed (2024: 85%).

“Our sales rate increased to 0.76 net private sales per outlet per week, or 0.63 when excluding bulk sales, representing an increase of 3% on the prior year (2024: 0.61).

“On a total sales per week basis, this equates to growth of 14% to 208 sales per week (2024: 183), reflecting the benefits of our expanding outlet base and broad geographic coverage across the UK.

“This progress has been achieved despite some softening in the market since the summer, with consumer confidence affected by ongoing uncertainties including the upcoming Government budget.

“The private average selling price in the forward order book has remained robust at c.£295,150 (30 June 2025:  £291,514) and is up 1.5% on the position at the same point last year, with total incentives remaining at around 4-5% on average …”

In its outlook, the York firm said: “We are pleased with our 2025 performance so far, in challenging market conditions.

“The investment made in the business over recent years has positioned us well, allowing us to operate from a growing outlet base and to deliver an improved sales rate.  We are on track to deliver our 2025 performance in line with market expectations.

“We remain mindful of affordability constraints and the potential impact the upcoming Government budget might have on our private customers and on our institutional build-to-rent and affordable housing partners.

“Our market fundamentals remain strong and we are confident the business will increase margins, returns and shareholder value, as previously outlined, over the medium term.”