"The safety of our customers remains our highest priority – this principle has consistently guided our approach, and we have increased our cladding fire safety provision to reflect findings from updated fire risk assessments and investigations in the first half"
- Jennie Daly - Taylor Wimpey
Taylor Wimpey delivered 5,264 homes in the first half of 2025, an 11% increase on the 4,728 completed during the same period in 2024. However, the housebuilder reported a loss before tax of £92.1 million, driven largely by £222.2 million of new provisions related to cladding and fire safety.
The firm’s operating profit fell 12% to £161 million. This includes a £20 million charge following the failure of a contractor involved in remedial works on a former Taylor Wimpey site. An £18 million provision relating to the CMA’s leasehold investigation also contributed to the overall result.
Much of the new cladding provision stems from recent fire risk assessments. These revealed previously undetected issues, including cavity barrier remediation behind brickwork and render that had not been visible in earlier, non-intrusive investigations.
Chief executive Jennie Daly said the business performed as expected, despite a slowdown in the second quarter. “We delivered a good underlying performance in the first half of 2025 in line with our expectations, notwithstanding softer market conditions in the second quarter,” she said.
“While affordability remains constrained, particularly amongst first-time buyers, lenders remain committed to the UK mortgage market, and long-term fundamentals are positive, with significant unmet need for UK housing.
“The safety of our customers remains our highest priority – this principle has consistently guided our approach, and we have increased our cladding fire safety provision to reflect findings from updated fire risk assessments and investigations in the first half.”
The company has reiterated its full-year completions target of between 10,400 and 10,800 homes in the UK. It now expects group operating profit for 2025 to be around £424 million, including the one-off charge, with underlying guidance unchanged.
Trading softened in Q2 after a robust start to the year. In the four weeks to 27 July 2025, Taylor Wimpey recorded a net private sales rate of 0.59 per outlet per week (2024: 0.64), or 0.56 excluding bulk deals (2024: 0.64). For the half-year, the average rate was 0.79 (H1 2024: 0.75), or 0.73 excluding bulk deals (H1 2024: 0.69). The cancellation rate remained steady at 19%.
The company operated from an average of 206 outlets during the first half (H1 2024: 224), ending the period with 209 active sites (30 June 2024: 214).
As of 27 July 2025, the total order book stood at £2.19 billion (2024: £2.10 billion), covering 7,452 homes (2024: 7,667), with 74% of orders exchanged, unchanged from last year.
Prices remained broadly stable. The total average UK selling price (ASP) on completions fell slightly by 1.3% to £313,000 (H1 2024: £317,000). Taylor Wimpey said it continues to expect a full-year UK ASP of around £340,000, despite the lower-than-expected H1 figure, which was impacted by product mix.
