Housebuilder Persimmon has warned of multiple headwinds going in to 2023 as current sales of its homes had fallen by more than 36%.
The York-based developer said higher mortgage rates, inflation, market uncertainty and the closure of the Help to Buy scheme in England had made a sharp impact on its sales in the fourth quarter of 2022. It warned those factors would also weigh on this year's performance. In a trading update Persimmon said it had calculated the removal of Help to Buy and increases in mortgage rates had doubled the size of monthly mortgage payments for some first time buyers.
Investors were told: "While we are promoting initiatives to stimulate demand, including the recent launch of our "10 months mortgage free" customer offer, which generated a strong increase in website enquiries in its first week, it is too early to predict when there will be a recovery in demand."
