Persimmon: Housebuilder posts profit as property market ‘recovers’
Housebuilder Persimmon toasted rising profit and house completions, buoyed by a property market which it says is recovering from last year’s Budget slowdown.
Persimmon notched rising profit before tax in the year to December 2025, up 11 per cent to £397m, and built 11,905 homes, up 12 per cent from the year before.
Investors rewarded the promising performance, as shares were up more than 10 per cent on the Tuesday market open, with Persimmon the FTSE 100’s biggest riser in early trading.
Dean Finch, Persimmon’s chief executive, put the group’s performance down to “supportive” market conditions, including greater mortgage availability, wage growth and the government’s planning reforms.
Finch said: “Sales in the opening weeks of the year have been strong and the build to rent market is recovering from the slowdown around November’s Budget.”
Persimmon is the latest housing company to feel the strain of the period of uncertainty leading up to last year’s Budget,as the housing market slowed in anticipation of rumoured tax hikes.
Iran war leaves outlook uncertain
The company expects to build between 12,00 and 12,500 houses this year, but Finch said this is dependent on a quick end to the Iran war.
“Whilst we have good visibility of both our costs for 2026 and our demand from registered providers and [build-to-rent], the impact of the Iran conflict on customer sentiment remains to be seen,” Finch said.
The group saw total revenue of £3.75bn, up 17 per cent from the previous year.
Persimmon renewed its contract with property portal Zoopla last month, meaning it will continue to list all of its properties on the portal.
The FTSE 100 firm had seen its shares drop five per cent yesterday in anticipation of the financial results but Persimmon’s chairman struck a confident tone.
Each of the group’s three brands – the core Persimmon offering, premium brand Charles Church and affordable housing label Westbury – are “well positioned and distinct,” chairman Roger Devlin said.
He said: “The UK’s housing need is well documented, and the Government is committed to an ambitious housebuilding target. Persimmon is positively engaged with Government, and we welcome the beneficial changes to the planning environment that the Government has introduced, which should improve over time.”
Julie Palmer, managing partner at real estate advisory firm BTG, said: “With strong consistent building completions alongside a good level of sales through 2025, followed by an accelerated start to 2026 Persimmon would have been looking ahead at the next year with positivity as build costs and planning backlogs appeared to be easing.
“However, if interest rates and inflation rise then it may need to adjust its outlook and plot a new path to success.