Housebuilder remains on track to deliver targeted completions
Recent uncertainty in the global economy triggered by the new US president’s tariff regime has had no impact on Persimmon’s business, according to the firm’s boss.
Last month, Donald Trump announced a minimum 10% tariff on all US imports, triggering frantic negotiations with trading partners, escalating the trade war with China, and creating significant uncertainty for firms in the UK.
However, Dean Finch, group chief executive at Persimmon, said the firm “had seen no immediate impact on the business or on customer confidence from the recent geopolitical uncertainty”.
“Consequently, at this stage we remain on track to deliver further growth in completions to between 11,000 and 11,500 for the full year, providing the UK housing market remains stable,” he added.
The comments came as Persimmon released a trading update for the period from 1 January 2025 to 27 April 2025.
In the update, the company clarified that it “does not trade directly with the US market and consequently has no direct exposure to the recently announced tariffs”.
It said the indirect impact was also expected to be “limited”, while acknowledging that economic uncertainty could impact mortgage rates and consumer spending.
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According to the trading update, forward sales at 27 April 2025 stood at £2.34bn, up 12% compared to the level at the same point a year prior.
The increase in value of forward sales on 2024 came entirely from private sales, with the figure for partnership sales remaining flat.
The net private sales rate per outlet per week, excluding bulk sales, was up 3% to 0.65 in the period, and the firm said it had been successful in the planning arena, with 2,781 plots achieving detailed or reserved matters approval in the first quarter - up from 1,457 in the same quarter the year before.
Persimmon said it was “encouraged” by the government’s planning reforms, including the NPPF and the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.
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