Housebuilder CALA Group has set a new long term target of building over 3,000 units a year after revealing it is on track to deliver a sixth straight year of record revenue and profits.

A strong six-month period of trading saw the group deliver a 34% increase in completions to 939 units while private reservations rose 40%, though the reservation total for the first half is not disclosed.

CALA said while it remains on track to deliver 2,500 new homes per year and £1 billion in revenues by 2020, it now believes it has the capacity to build “in excess of 3,000 units per annum” from its existing regional network.

The group said this 3,000 unit pert year target is underpinned by its “strong land pipeline, established market position and premium product offering”.

Alan Brown, chief executive of CALA Group, said: “2017 was another excellent year for CALA and the first six months of the current financial year have seen us maintain the strong momentum generated by the business in recent years that has seen us become the UK’s fastest growing housebuilder by volume over the last decade. We have made exceptional progress in transforming the size and scope of our business and remain focused on scaling up our eight divisions as we continue to make significant progress towards achieving operational efficiency.

“The policy environment for the housebuilding sector improved further in 2017 and we were particularly encouraged by the £44bn committed at the November Budget to boost the supply of new housing, alongside the ongoing focus on the development of urban areas. The UK continues to face an urgent shortage of housing but it is abundantly clear that there is cross-party political support for a full range of initiatives to boost both construction and home ownership.

“However, while we have been increasingly encouraged by the direction of travel among policy makers, there remains far too much focus on landbanking with the latest review announced in November’s Budget the fifth of its kind since 2004. Instead of conducting yet another review of this nature, the Government would be better advised to review the approach to planning adopted by local authorities that continues to cause excessive planning delays.

“We are well placed to deliver what would be our sixth consecutive year of record revenues and profits and, as a result of our performance in recent years, the consistent delivery against our growth targets and the investments in the business we have made, longer term, we now believe that we have the capability to deliver over 3,000 units per annum from our current operating structure.”