PERSIMMON, the York-based house builder, has increased turnover by about 13 per cent to £805 million in the first half of the year. In a trading update ahead of its half-year results to June 30, Persimmon said weekly sales rates throughout the spring season were up by an average of about 18 per cent per site.

The company legally completed 4,712 new homes in the first six months of 2012, an increase of six per cent on 2011.

It said: “We have opened 65 new sites in the first half of the year and we are currently selling new homes from about 375 sites.

“Visitor numbers to both the Persimmon Homes and Charles Church home finder web sites for the first six months are more than 50 per cent stronger than for the previous year. This reflects customers’ growing preference to search for a new home using the internet and is driving healthy levels of visitors to our developments.”

It said it had increased margins and invested in 5,600 new plots of land and expected to open a further 60 odd new sites during the second half of the year.

It said it expected to pay dividends of £227 million to shareholders in June 2013.

“While market conditions have been relatively stable during the first half of the year, sentiment within the UK housing market continues to be impacted by the continued weakness in the wider UK economy.

“However, we remain confident that we will be able to operate successfully in the current market and achieve our strategic objectives,” it said.