Taylor Wimpey has said it will complete fewer homes than expected this year and that the property market will remain "challenging."
The housebuilder expects completions of between 10,600 and 10,800 homes in 2026, excluding joint ventures. In March, it had forecast 10,600 to 11,000 new builds, which would have marked a 4 per cent drop compared with 2025.
The company said that without government assistance, the housebuilding industry would not be able to build as many homes and UK economic growth could be stunted. It called for "demand support," meaning measures to encourage people to buy and move home.
The forecast comes after Andy Burnham ruled out any changes to stamp duty at the Autumn Budget.
Taylor Wimpey said it continued to support the government's housing ambition, but warned that without targeted demand support and viability measures to unlock delivery, weaker demand, rising costs and limited affordable housing funding risked reducing sector output and UK economic growth.
In the first six months of 2026, completions reached 4,986 homes, down from 5,264 a year earlier. Average selling prices are expected to rise by around 1 per cent compared with 2026.
Separately, Nationwide's house price index showed house prices inched up in the year to July, as high mortgage rates and worries about future tax hikes put people off moving. Nationwide Building Society said the typical home sold for £277,542 in July, up 1.8 per cent year on year.
Half-year results
Taylor Wimpey's board revised the company's share distribution policy to reflect the prolonged downturn, which it said had reduced expected profitability and cash generation.
The group's results for the half year to 28 June showed net cash fell 48 per cent to £169 million, down from £327 million a year ago. Operating profit dropped 19 per cent to £130 million, while revenue edged up 2 per cent to £1.68 billion.
The adjusted operating margin narrowed to 7.7 per cent from 9.7 per cent, which the company attributed to weaker pricing, build cost inflation and lower profitability.
Profit before tax was £116.8 million for the period, compared with a £92.1 million loss a year earlier, when the company had booked substantial exceptional charges related to building safety provisions.
The average selling price rose 7 per cent to £334,000. The total order book fell to £1.93 billion, representing 6,882 homes, compared with £2.12 billion and 7,269 homes a year ago.
In the four weeks to 26 July, the private sales rate eased to 0.55 homes per outlet per week from 0.59 a year ago, while underlying selling prices were about 2 per cent below last year's levels.
The company expects to end the year with around £250 million of net cash after absorbing about £100 million of cladding-related payments.
Jennie Daly, Taylor Wimpey's chief executive, said that against a backdrop of continuing market uncertainty in which affordability remained stretched, the company was focused on delivering its strategy and generating value from its strong balance sheet and high-quality, well located landbank. She said the company was managing the business tightly, controlling costs and building resilience for an improved housing market when it comes.
Taylor Wimpey said it expected market conditions to remain challenging for the remainder of the year, with underlying pricing below prior year levels and full year build cost inflation of around 3 to 4 per cent.
Taylor Wimpey shares fell 4.48 per cent, or 3.72p, on Friday morning. The group has launched a further £42 million share buyback programme starting today.
