The house builder said that trading had remained resilient since the EU referendum as it reported record pre-tax profits ahead 40% at nearly £500m from revenue up 27% to £2.24bn in the year to the end of July.

In the nine weeks since 1 August, the house builder took around 162 reservations per week (2015 – 149), an increase of 9% compared to the same time last year.

The huge growth in profits was helped with a £17m one-off profit from the disposal of  the vast Barking Riverside development, near London and a 13% rise in the average selling price to £252,793.

Chief executive Ted Ayres said there was still some upward pressure from labour costs, particularly in the South East, where the availability of  ground workers, brick layers and scaffolders remained restricted. 

The firm said that material cost increases had largely abated with only occasional availability issues.

Bellway said it had now factored in longer lead in times into build programmes and strong relationships with suppliers was helping to ensure that construction timetables were being met.

He said: “The extent of volume growth this year will depend on whether customer confidence is maintained and strong sales rates continue throughout the autumn and subsequent spring selling seasons.

“From its structure of 19 operating divisions, the group has the capacity to deliver around 11,000 new homes per annum and is well placed to increase this capacity, through the opening of further new divisions, should market conditions remain robust.”