Berkeley builds hopes for housing

The group, which focuses on London and the south east, reported a 20 per cent rise in reservations, driven by a surge in the number of sites on offer, stable prices and strong demand in the capital.

The Surrey-based firm said it also believes house prices and transactions should remain stable in the coming year.

Berkeley saw revenues increase 16 per cent to 336.2m in the six months to October 31, while pre-tax profits increased 18.5 per cent to 61.1m.

Managing director Rob Perrins said: "Overall, this strong performance provides the board with confidence that Berkeley can outperform management's original expectations for the current year and is well placed for the following year."

The upbeat performance follows figures from Nationwide on Wednesday which revealed a recent run of house price falls had wiped out most of the gains seen to property values during the past year.

Berkeley put its increase in sales reservations down to new planning consents on more than 30 sites last year, which has increased the number of sites the firm is selling by 30 per cent.

The company said high demand in London was partly driven by an increase in overseas customers looking for a home or investment in the city.

The increase in sales reservations has led to a 22 per cent rise in forward order sales to 790.1m, the company added.