Operating profit fell 64% to £300.3m, down from £850m in 2019, as the number of houses completed dropped to 9,799, down from 16,042 in 2019, with many sites forced to close at the onset of the pandemic. At the statutory level, pre-tax profits fell to £264.4m, down from £835.9m.

Alongside the results, Taylor Wimpey said it had identified 232 apartment buildings that may require fire safety works.

The UK Government said last month that it would set aside £3.5 billion to help repair the worst-affected buildings, adding to the £1.6bn already pledged. Taylor Wimpey said its fund would cover any block built in the past 20 years, including those less than 18m tall, “regardless of eligibility for the UK Government building safety fund”.

Last month, Persimmon made a provision of £75m to address cladding safety issues on 26 buildings in its legacy development portfolio, while Barratt has already incurred an additional £56.3m of costs in relation to legacy properties.

Pete Redfern, chief executive, said:  “This is a complex and exceptional situation, but Taylor Wimpey is focused on doing the right thing for its customers.

“The board has determined that we will fund and oversee the improvement works of apartment buildings in our ownership, regardless of eligibility for the UK Government Building Safety Fund, to make them safe and mortgageable by achieving external fire wall standards EWS1 certification.

“If Taylor Wimpey no longer owns the building and it is not eligible for the Building Safety Fund, or similar support that may be announced in the future, where a freeholder produces a fair and proportionate plan for fire safety improvement works following EWS1 assessment, we will contribute funding to bring those buildings up to the standards.

“Whilst the legal responsibility continues to rest with the building owner, we will also provide advice and other assistance where appropriate.”

Elsewhere in its results, Taylor Wimpey said average selling prices on private completions increased by 5.9% to £323k (2019: £305k), with the overall average selling price increasing to £288k (2019: £269k).

The company has achieved a record forward order book of 10,685 homes and is focused on delivering cost-saving and simplification with annual savings of £16m from 2021.

Mr Redfern added: “Operating performance has bounced back strongly in the second half of 2020, with build capacity returning to near normal levels and strong sales.

“We are confident in the medium term performance of the housing market and therefore accelerated our land purchases from May 2020 as high-quality land became available at attractive rates.

“We are now focusing on driving efficiencies across the business, the roll out of our new house type range and implementing our ambitious new environmental strategy.”