In a trading update issued this morning for the period from 1 January 2017 to date, the group said total forward sales, including legal completions, had leapt to £2.6 billion in the year so far, up from £2.3bn a year earlier.

Its weekly private sales rate is running 12% higher since the end of February, bringing the total of homes sold so far in 2017 to 8,928 at an average selling price of around £229,500.

Persimmon said its operational performance continued to be excellent, with the group delivering higher volumes of newly built homes across all its regional markets.

The company added: “The prevailing disciplined approach to mortgage lending is enabling customers to buy newly built homes on attractive but sustainable terms.”

Persimmon said it has 8,928 new private homes forward sold, with an average selling price of around £229,500, an increase of 4.1% on the previous year.

The firm said its “focus on building family housing at affordable prices provides a compelling choice for potential new home buyers and has attracted 6% more visitors to our development sites than last year at this stage”.

Persimmon pointed out that, despite continued difficulties encountered with planning delays, it has opened 67 of the 90 new sites planned for the first half of the year.

The group said it is currently developing 382 active sales outlets across the UK and is building new homes on all sites that have an implementable detailed planning consent.

Providing an update on its successful capital return plan, which has to date returned £629 million more to shareholders than anticipated when the scheme launched in 2012, the listed housebuilder also revealed it has agreed a £300m credit facility extension.

The Board said it remains confident of the future prospects of the group and a further trading update will be provided in July.