Taylor Wimpey blasts minister turmoil for UK housebuilders

Chopping and changing at the top of Government is bad news for stability, the head of housebuilder Taylor Wimpey said on Wednesday.

The housing industry now has its third minister in seven months after Dominic Raab’s move from the Department of Justice to take on the brief in yesterday’s reshuffle.

He replaces Alok Sharma, who in turn stepped into Gavin Barwell’s role when he lost his seat in June’s election and joined Theresa May’s Downing Street operation.

The ministerial changes have all come in the 11 months since the Government published its White Paper on an overhaul of housing, which has leapt up the political agenda.

Taylor Wimpey chief executive Pete Redfern said: “It is a shame not to see more stability in the role. I think I’m into double figures in my time here. Stability does matter, it takes time to get up to speed.”

His comments came as the company reported a 5% rise in sales volumes last year to 14,541, with sales strong “across the board”.

The order book slipped slightly to £1.63 billion, as the firm increased the pace of production to meet market demand.

Results will be in line with City hopes but on the heels of a “modest” upgrade from Persimmon yesterday, the shares eased 5.7p to 203.2p.