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 to be between 10,600 and 10,800 in 2026, excluding homes built in joint ventures.
In March it said it expected to complete 10,600 to 11,000 new-builds this year, which would have been a 4 per cent drop compared to 2025.
It said that without Government assistance, the housebuilding industry would not be able to build as many homes and UK economic growth could be stunted.
The firm called for ‘demand support,’ in other words measures to encourage people to buy and move home.
It comes as Andy Burnham ruled out any changes to stamp duty at the Autumn Budget.
Taylor Wimpey said: ‘We continue to support the Government’s housing ambition.
‘However, without targeted demand support and viability measures to unlock delivery, weaker demand, rising costs and limited affordable housing funding risks reducing sector output and UK economic growth.’
Gloomy: Taylor Wimpey expects market conditions for the rest of the year to remain ‘challenging’
In the first six months of 2026, completions reached 4,986 homes, down from 5,264 a year ago.
Average selling prices are expected to rise by around 1 per cent compared to 2026.
Today’s Nationwide house price index showed that house prices inched up in the year to July, as people were put off moving by high mortgage rates and worries about future tax hikes.
The latest figures from Nationwide Building Society show that the typical home fetched £277,542 in July, an increase of 1.8 per cent year-on-year.
The group’s board has revised the company’s share distribution policy ‘reflecting the prolonged nature of the downturn which has reduced expected profitability and cash generation’.
Taylor Wimpey’s results for the half to 28 June showed its net cash stash fell 48 per cent to £169million, down from £327million a year ago.
The group’s operating profit dropped 19 per cent to £130million, while revenue edged up 2 per cent to £1.68billion.
The company’s adjusted operating margin narrowed to 7.7 per cent from 9.7 per cent, reflecting weaker pricing, build cost inflation and lower profitability.
Taylor Wimpey’s profit before tax was £116.8million for the period, compared with a £92.1million loss a year earlier, when the company booked substantial exceptional charges related to building safety provisions.
The housebuilder’s average selling price increased by 7 per cent to £334,000.
Its total order book fell to £1.93billion, representing 6,882 homes, compared with £2.12billion and 7,269 homes a year ago.
In the four weeks to 26 July, the company’s 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 firm expects to end the year with around £250million of net cash after absorbing about £100million of cladding-related payments.
Jennie Daly, Taylor Wimpey’s chief executive, said: ‘Against a backdrop of continuing market uncertainty in which affordability remains stretched, we are focused on delivering our strategy and generating value from our strong balance sheet and high-quality, well located landbank.
‘We are managing the business tightly, controlling costs and building resilience for an improved housing market when it comes.’
Taylor Wimpey added: ‘We expect 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 £42million share buyback programme to start today.
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