Telford Homes (LON:TEF) said it expects to deliver record profits for the year in part due to the shortage of housing in London.
The housing builder said it anticipates pre-tax profits to be up by almost a third for the year to March-end, despite a general downturn trend in the housing market across the capital.
Nevertheless, Telford said that the undersupplied London housing market ‘remained robust’ across the period, offsetting concerns.
So far, it has sold over 100 homes in the second phase of the New Garden Quarter in Stratford, with initial interest in the project surpassing expectations.
The company attributed the strong performance to ‘robust market for our homes in London assisted by broad mix of sales between build to rent, individual investors, owner-occupiers and housing associations’
Jon Di-Stefano, Chief Executive of Telford Homes, commented:
“Telford Homes continues to perform well and I expect to once again report record revenue and profit for the year to 31 March 2018. ”
“As we increase the scale of the business, our growth is underpinned by the lack of supply of new homes in London and demand for our product at more affordable price points remains strong.”
“Build to rent is the most exciting part of our business in the near term and I believe our increased focus on this sector will drive the next phase of our growth and bring even greater success”, he added.
The group said it now has just over 2,900 homes under construction, with the view to ‘significantly increase’ this number in the future.
Telford’s optimistic results contrasts the generally subdued figures for the London housing market, with demand falling for the eleventh month in the row, according to the latest UK residential survey by RICS.
Moreover, The capital continues to be affected by economic uncertainty and higher Stamp Duty rates, with prices falling more than 15 per cent in the last 12 months.
Shares in Telford Homes are currently trading +1.65 as of 09.31AM (GMT).