A YORK firm has reported its “significant contribution to increasing UK housing supply” as reveals continual upwards trends throughout its latest year.

Fulford headquartered housebuilder Persimmon plc gave a trade update yesterday ahead of its final results for the year ending December 31, 2017, which will be released next month.

The firm saw a nine per cent rise in revenues to £3.42 billion off the back of a six per cent rise in legal completions to 16,043.

2017 also saw a hike in average selling price of Persimmon properties to £213,300, up three per cent from the year before.

In its statement, Persimmon said: “Since the launch of our group strategy in 2012 we have made a significant contribution to increasing UK housing supply by opening 1,189 new selling outlets and delivering 80,726 new homes to the market during which time we have increased our annual production by more than 70 per cent.

“We anticipate our pre-tax profits for the year will be modestly ahead of market consensus.”

Perismmon said it continued to experience “healthy customer demand” for new homes through the autumn sales season and the value of its forward sales at year end of £1,355 million was 10 per cent higher than in 2016.

Second half legal completion volumes of 8,249 were also 455 stronger than for the first half of the year, marking an increase of six per cent.

In a bid to support the Government’s desire to increase housing supply, last year saw Persimmon open a new operating business in Mansfield, north of Nottingham, which has “made good progress”, legally completing 373 new homes in 2017.

In addition earlier this month is launched a new business based near Ipswich in Suffolk to improve its operational capability and supplement our existing operations in the east of England.

Over the last three years Persimmon has opened six new offices, raising the number of regional house building businesses within the Group from 24 to 30, which the firm says demonstrates its “commitment to increasing supply where there is good demand”, and that it will “continue to explore opportunities for further growth”.

The firm’s new brick manufacturing plant in Harworth, near Doncaster, is also now complete and is delivering bricks to sites.